How to Change the Admin Color Scheme in WordPress (Quick & Easy)

Do you want to change the admin color scheme in WordPress?

Changing the color scheme of the WordPress admin lets you create a custom dashboard for you and your team. The color scheme can match the design of your brand, or just feature your favorite colors.

In this article, we’ll show you how to change the admin color scheme in WordPress easily.

How to change the admin color scheme in WordPress

Why Change the Admin Color Scheme in WordPress?

If you’re not a fan of the default admin color scheme in WordPress, then you can easily change the color scheme to something you like.

You can also change the color scheme to match the design of your WordPress theme, or even add a dark mode feature.

This can be useful if you have a membership site or online store where users can log in to your site, and want your website and admin dashboard to offer a similar experience.

You could also use a different admin color scheme for your staging site to more easily tell it apart from your live site.

That being said, let’s show you a few different ways you can change the admin color scheme in WordPress. You can use the quick links below to jump straight to the method you want to use.

How to Change the Admin Color Scheme with WordPress Default Settings

WordPress has a built in feature that lets you choose from a few predetermined color palettes for your WordPress admin dashboard.

To change the admin color scheme, simply login to your WordPress admin dashboard, and then navigate to Users » Profile.

After that, select the new color scheme in the ‘Admin Color Scheme’ section by clicking the radio button.

Select new admin color scheme

There are 9 different color schemes to choose from.

As you click different options, the color scheme will automatically change.

Admin color scheme change example

Once you’ve selected a color scheme you like, you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the ‘Update Profile’ button.

Save new admin color scheme

You can also control the admin color scheme for other registered users on your WordPress website.

To do this, go to Users » All Users, and then hover over the user and click the ‘Edit’ button.

Edit user color scheme

Then, simply follow the same process as above to change the admin color scheme for that user.

Once you’re finished, make sure to click the ‘Update Profile’ button at the bottom of the page.

How to Create Custom Admin Color Schemes in WordPress

If you want even more color choices for your admin dashboard, then you can create custom color schemes and upload them to your WordPress blog.

To do this, go to the free WordPress Admin Colors website and click the ’Start Creating’ button.

Click start creating button

Then, enter a name into the ‘Color Scheme Name’ box.

This name will show up in your WordPress admin panel as a new color option.

Enter color scheme name

After that, you can fully customize your color scheme by clicking the color options in the ‘Choose your colors’ section.

To change one of the existing colors, click the color and choose your new color from the popup. You can click anywhere on the color picker, or enter a hex code for a specific color.

Click to customize colors

Once you’re finished customizing your color scheme, click the ‘Generate Color Scheme’ button at the bottom of the page.

This will create the color scheme code that you need to add to WordPress.

Click to generate color scheme

On the next page there will be two different code files.

You need to download the CSS file and copy the code snippet and paste it into your favorite text editor. We will be adding these to your WordPress files.

Download CSS and copy PHP code

If you haven’t done this before, then check out our guide on how to copy and paste code in WordPress.

You can add the code snippet to your functions.php file or by using a code snippets plugin.

For this tutorial, we’ll use the code snippets plugin WPCode. It’s the easiest and most beginner-friendly method of adding code snippets to your WordPress site.

First, you need to install the free WPCode plugin. For more details, see our beginner’s guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you’ll have a new menu item labeled ‘Code Snippets’ in your WordPress admin bar. Clicking on it will show you a list of the code snippets you have saved on your site.

Since you’ve just installed the plugin, your list will be empty.

Go ahead and click on the ‘Add New’ button to add your code snippet in WordPress.

Click the Add New Button to Add Your First Custom Code Snippet in WordPress

Next, you’ll see the ‘Add Snippet’ page.

Navigate to the ‘Add Your Custom Code (New Snippet)’ option and click on the ‘Use snippet’ button.

Add your new custom code snippet in WPCode

Then, give your code snippet a name. This can be anything to help you remember the purpose of your code.

Now you can paste the snippet you copied above into the ‘Code’ box. You also need to select the ‘Code Type’ from the dropdown list on the right.

Name and add new code snippet

Next, you need to select the insertion method for your code snippet.

You can leave it on the ‘Auto Insert’ method, so it will automatically insert and execute the code snippet in the proper place.

Pick the insertion method for your custom code snippet

After that, toggle the switch from ‘Inactive’ to ‘Active’ and then click the ‘Save Snippet’ button in the top-right corner of the screen.

This will save the code and activate the new admin color scheme.

Save and activate your custom code snippet

Now you need to upload the CSS stylesheet you downloaded earlier to your theme directory in your WordPress hosting account.

To do this, you can use an FTP client, or the file manager option in your WordPress hosting control panel.

If you haven’t used FTP before, then you might want to check out our guide on how to use FTP to upload files to WordPress.

First, you need to connect to your website using an FTP client, or the file manager in cPanel. Once you’re connected, you need to navigate to the /wp-content folder.

Select wp-content folder FTP

Inside the wp-content folder, you will see a folder called themes. This is where WordPress stores all the themes your website uses or has used in the past.

You need to click on the themes folder, and then open up the folder for the theme you’re using.

Open themes folder and select theme

Then, upload the display.css file that you downloaded.

Your CSS file will have the name that you chose earlier.

Upload new CSS file

Note: If you change WordPress themes, then you will need to upload the CSS file to your new theme folder.

After that, navigate to Users » Your Profile.

Then, you can select the new color scheme you just created.

Select custom color scheme

If you want to use this color scheme, then make sure to click the ‘Update Profile’ button at the bottom of the page.

How to Control the Default Admin Color Scheme for New Users

When a new user creates an account, they’ll have the option to customize their color scheme. But, you may want to control the default admin color scheme or prevent users from changing the color scheme altogether.

The easiest way to do this is by using the free plugin Force Admin Color Scheme.

First, you need to install and activate the plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, navigate to Users » Profile and then select your admin color and click the ‘Force this admin color scheme on all users’ checkbox.

Check force admin color scheme checkbox

After that, click the ‘Update Profile’ button at the bottom of the page.

Now the default admin color scheme will be the same for all new and existing users on your site.

The plugin also disables the admin color scheme selector for all of your users. The only users who can change this color are those with admin access.

We hope this article helped you learn how to change the admin color scheme in WordPress. You may also want to see our expert picks on the best WordPress landing page plugins and our guide on how to choose the best domain name registrar.

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.

How to Buy a Domain Name That is Taken (9 Pro Tips)

Do you want to buy a domain name that’s already been taken?

Buying a domain name that is already taken can be expensive and may go wrong if you are not being careful.

In this article, we’ll explain how to buy a taken domain and give you some insider tips and proven strategies to get a good deal.

Tips on buying a taken domain name

Note: Unlike other guides on the internet, this resource is based on our actual collective experience of buying premium domains. We have spent anywhere from few hundred to few million dollars in buying premium domains and established website businesses.

The Basics of Buying a Domain Name That’s Already Taken

All websites need a domain name. It is your website’s address on the internet. See our beginner’s guide on how domain names work if you’re not 100% sure what a domain name is.

You can register a new domain name for around $10 – $15 from top domain registrars. Alternatively, you can even get a free domain name when you sign up with hosting companies like Bluehost, Dreamhost, etc.

But what if the domain name you want is already taken?

In that case, you have two options: come up with a different name or buy the one you want from its current owner.

Buying a taken domain name from someone who’s already registered it could be a great move for your business.

However, it’s important to beware of risks and scams so you don’t waste time or money.

That’s why we have put together these tips on how to buy a taken domain as safely as possible.

What to Consider Before Buying a Domain Name

One key question to ask yourself is whether you want to purchase a domain name alone or an established website.

Buying a website, if it’s one that has a consistent track record of making money, can be a great shortcut.

It lets you get a money-making business straight away rather than having to build one from scratch.

However, it’s going to be way more expensive to buy a website than just a domain name. You’ll also have more risks and legal liabilities to consider.

How to Actually Buy a Taken Domain Name

There are two main routes to buying domain names that are already taken:

  • Privately approaching the domain name’s owner and agreeing on the sale
  • Look for the name in domain marketplaces.

The first method avoids involving a third party in the sale, and you may be able to persuade the owner towards more favorable pricing.

If the domain name already has a website with a contact form, then you can use that to reach out to the site owner.

Alternatively, you can search for it using the Domain WHOIS tool. You may be able to get the contact details of the owner from the domain details there.

The second method is to look for the name using online domain marketplaces. This is where many domain owners go to sell their domain names.

We recommend using Domain.com. It is one of the best places to register a domain name or buy a domain name for sale.

Simply search for the domain name you are looking for to see if it is available for sale.

Domain.com search

Domain names that are already taken may be highlighted as premium domain name with a higher price. If you find the domain name listed there, then you can add it to the cart and proceed to payment.

You can try multiple domain marketplaces like Sedo, Flippa, etc to see if the domain is listed for sale there.

If the domain name is not listed anywhere, then it is probably not available for sale. You can still try the first method of approaching the owner with your offer.

That being said, let’s take a look at tips on making sure you buy your domain name safely.

Tip 1. Avoid Using a Different Extension Instead

Domain name extensions

If you find that your domain name is taken when using a .com, then you might be tempted to use a different domain extension like .net or .org.

However, this can cause problems as people may forget your domain name and type in .com or .org.

You may even face legal issues if the .com owner argues that you’re trying to infringe on their brand name. This is particularly the case if they’ve registered it as a trademark.

We cover more on why you need a .com domain in our article on how to choose the best domain name.

Tip 2. Check the Domain Name isn’t a Registered Trademark

Trademark and copyright

If the domain name is a registered trademark of an existing business, then you could end up having to take your website offline completely in the future.

It’s well worth doing a quick search of the US trademark database to check whether your domain name is already being used by another company. You may also want to check local databases too.

Even a domain name that uses a trademark within it could be a problem. For instance, you can’t use the word “WordPress” in your domain name.

Tip 3. Don’t Get Too Emotionally Attached

Starting a new online business idea is exciting. Since your domain name plays a crucial role, it’s easy to get emotionally attached to a specific name.

However, you need to be smart and rational about all financial investment decisions, including this one.

We recommend keeping your options open and looking around for multiple domain names, or at least giving them serious consideration.

This will help you in negotiation, so you can get the best deal without overpaying for your domain name.

Remember, the cost of premium domain names can vary from few hundred dollars to a few hundred thousand dollars.

Having options make sure that you don’t end up paying a huge sum of money for a domain name that’s really not any better than something else that was 1/10th of the price.

Tip 4. Check if a Website Has Ever Been Built There

Viewing the website history of a domain name using the WayBack machine

Make sure that you check website history using the Wayback Machine. It is possible that the domain name may have been used by someone else.

It is alright if the domain name has been used before, but you want to make sure that it wasn’t used for malicious, spammy, or illegal activities.

This may harm your business’ reputation and may even cause legal issues in the future. If there’s a Google penalty on the domain, then that could take a lot of work and resources to wipe out.

WayBack Machine is also a smart way of finding domain owner information as well.

Tip 5. Figure Out What the Domain is Worth

Domain valuation

Domain name pricing is tricky. If you’re new to buying domains, then you might wonder whether the price you’re being quoted is a bargain, a rip-off, or something in between.

Well, the truth is that there is no standard regulation for premium domain name pricing. Sellers independently decide the price, and it’s up to you as a buyer to decide if it’s worth the investment.

Premium domain names can range from few hundred dollars to a few hundred thousand dollars. Some rare premium domain names even go into the million dollar range.

If you’re new, then you can use a tool like EstiBot to get a general idea of what the domain may be worth.

Disclaimer: Automatic domain name evaluations aren’t necessarily very accurate, but they do show similar domain sales data which is helpful.

If the domain is priced too high (and it often will be), then you’ll need to be prepared to haggle. Don’t start by offering the maximum you’d be willing to consider. Instead, start at a lower price with the expectation that you’ll likely end up meeting halfway.

Keep in mind that there’s a limit to how low the seller will go. Don’t expect someone to accept $500 if they originally asked for $20,000.

However, just because someone asked for $20,000 doesn’t mean you need to meet them half way either. We’ve often secured $20k domain deals in the $3k – $6k range.

Tip 6. Know Exactly What You’re Buying

Evaluate details

Make sure you know exactly what you’re going to be getting. Is it just the domain name you’re buying? Or are you buying a website too? If you’re buying the website, then does this include all the content?

Established websites may well use lots of different plugins and tools that the owner has licenses for. It’s unlikely that these licenses will be transferred over to you along with the sale, so you’ll need to be prepared to purchase them for yourself.

You’ll also want to be clear on whether you’re receiving assets like the website’s email list data.

If the domain name or website is a large purchase, then you should definitely have a lawyer draw up a contract for you. Consult someone who’s an expert in IP (Intellectual Property) law.

Even if you’re making a small purchase, be sure to get crucial details in writing at the very least.

Bonus: ask if the owner has access to existing social media accounts for the domain name, so you can get that as part of the deal.

Tip 7. Make Sure You’re Buying From the Domain’s Owner

Scam

Imagine this. You hand over your money for a domain name, only to find that the domain has been stolen. You never see your money again, and you’re not the legal owner of the domain either.

It’s a nightmare scenario, but unfortunately, it can happen. A good initial check is to use a tool such as DNS Trails to see whether there have been any recent changes to the DNS records. If you see something odd, then ask for an explanation.

If all your contact with the domain name owner has been through email, it’s well worth getting a phone number, so you actually talk to them. Email accounts can be hacked and email addresses can be faked.

Tip 8. Use Escrow to Transfer the Money

Escrow

You might be nervous about buying a domain name, particularly for a significant sum. What if the seller takes your money and doesn’t hand over the domain name?

The best solution is to use a site like Escrow.com. You give your money to the site, and they hold it securely until you confirm you’ve received the domain name. At that point, they hand the money to the seller.

Escrow.com has been used for the purchase of some hugely famous domain names, including Twitter.com, Gmail.com, WordPress.com and more. Note that you will need to pay a fee to Escrow.com.

Important: Don’t take a shortcut here and try to save on Escrow fees. We always use Escrow for domain purchases unless the domain owner is willing to transfer the domain to us before receiving payments. Trust us, it’s not worth the risk!

Tip 9. Consider Backordering a Domain You Want

Every day, thousands of domain names get expired and are not renewed or registered. A lot of businesses fail to take off or the domain owners lose interest.

In some cases, the owner might simply forget to re-register the domain.

You don’t have to watch the domain name to see when it’s about to expire. Instead, there are plenty of services that will monitor the domain name on your behalf. They’ll automatically try to register it the moment it’s available.

You can use Network Solutions or GoDaddy for domain backorders. There are plenty of other sites that offer a similar service too.

The problem with back-ordering is that it may not work at all. The domain owner may renew their domain name, or someone else may have placed a backorder before you which will be given priority.

Final Thoughts + Alternative Strategies

Buying a domain name that’s already taken is not easy, and the process can take anywhere from few days to a few months. And if the owner doesn’t want to sell, then it can even take years to convince them.

This is why we always recommend having few options when you’re searching for domains. You can use a domain name generator like Nameboy to come up with ideas.

Alternatively, you can also try our brand new AI powered business name generator tool.

Here are some clever tips that can also help you come up with alternatives:

  • Add a verb to your keyword – for example: getpocket.com, getcloudapp.com, and tryinteract.com
  • Extend your brand with a keyword – for example: invisionapp.com, gogoair.com, etc. Remember Tesla didn’t own tesla.com, so they started with TeslaMotors.com. Buffer didn’t own buffer.com, so they used bufferapp.com in the beginning.
  • Use abbreviations – for example: wpbeginner.com, wpforms.com, etc.
  • Use a catch phrase or adjective – for example: optinmonster.com, trustpulse.com, monsterinsights.com, etc.

We hope this article helped you learn how to buy a domain name that’s taken. You may also want to see our guide on proven ways to make money online, and our comparison of the best website builder platforms.

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.

How to Build Your Personal Brand Using WordPress

Are you trying to build a personal website?

In today’s age, anyone can look you up on the internet to find more information about you. Creating a personal website allows you to take charge and better manage your online reputation.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily build your personal website using WordPress, and how to use it boost your online profile like a pro.

Building your personal brand online using WordPress

Following is a list of topics that we’ll cover in this tutorial:

Ready? Let’s get started.

Why and Who Needs a Personal Website?

In our opinion, everyone needs to build a personal website. Whether you are an entrepreneur, small business owner, doctor, professor, real-estate broker, or a student.

In today’s information age, anyone can Google your name and learn a lot more about you than you can imagine.

While having social media profiles is great, social networks come and go. You need a platform of your own where you can publish anything you want. A platform where you are the star.

Building a personal website allows you to market yourself on the internet.

It helps you not just earn trust, which in itself is invaluable. You can also build a following, become a thought leader, make friends, and find a lot of new opportunities.

Even if you don’t like the idea of marketing yourself, you’ll still be judged by what you put online.

That being said, let’s take a look at how to easily build a personal website that actually helps you succeed.

What You Need to Build a Personal Website

what you need to build a personal website

First, you need to make sure that you are using the right platform to build your website.

We recommend using WordPress because it is the best website builder on the market. It powers more than 43% of all websites on the internet.

Now, when we say WordPress, we are talking about WordPress.org and not WordPress.com which is a hosting service.

To learn more see our article on the difference between WordPress.org vs WordPress.com.

You’ll need the following things to build your personal website using WordPress.

  • A domain name (e.g. SyedBalkhi.com). This is what users will type in their browsers to reach your website. For personal websites, many people use their own names as domain names when possible.
  • A website hosting account. This is where all your website files will be stored.

Now, normally a domain name would cost you about $14.99 per year and website hosting starts at $7.99 per month (usually paid annually).

If you are just starting out, then this may sound like a lot of money.

Luckily, the folks at Bluehost have agreed to offer WPBeginner users a free domain name with a generous discount on hosting. Basically, you can get started for $2.75 per month.

→ Click Here to Claim This Exclusive Bluehost Offer ←

Bluehost is one of the largest hosting companies in the world and an officially recommended WordPress hosting provider.

If you can spend little extra money, then do check out SiteGround or WP Engine. For more hosting recommendations, see our WordPress hosting guide for side-by-side comparisons.

Setting up Your Personal Website

For the sake of this tutorial, we’ll show you setting up a personal website on Bluehost. For other hosting companies, you can see our complete WordPress installation tutorial.

First, you need to visit the Bluehost website and click on the green ‘Get Started Now’ button.

Getting started with personal website on Bluehost

Next, you’ll be asked to choose a hosting plan. Most beginners start with the Basic or Plus plans.

Choose WordPress hosting plan

Click ‘Select’ to choose a hosting plan and continue.

After that, you’ll be asked to choose a domain name. Enter your desired domain name and click on the next button to continue.

choose domain name

Next, you will need to add your account information and finalize the package info to complete the process.

On this screen, you’ll see optional extras that you can purchase. We recommend unchecking all of them. You can always add them later if needed.

Finalize plan

Lastly, you need to add the payment information to complete the purchase.

Once completed, you’ll receive an email with details on how to login to your web hosting control panel. This is where you manage everything from support, emails, among other things.

Bluehost will automatically install WordPress for you. Simply login to your hosting account dashboard, and then click on login to WordPress button.

Login to WordPress

This will bring you to your WordPress website dashboard. It will look something like this:

WordPress dashboard

Congrats, you have successfully set up your personal website. In the next few steps, we’ll show you how to configure it to your own style, add content, and make a professional-looking website.

Get a Personal Website WordPress Theme

The way how your personal website looks is very important to make a good first impression.

WordPress comes with thousands of free and premium themes that you can use for your personal website.

However, this abundance of choices also makes it a bit difficult to find the right theme.

To make this choice easier, we have compiled some lists of our favorite WordPress themes under different categories.

As a general rule, we recommend using a simple theme with lots of white space. This makes any website look clean and more professional.

Alternative: Use a WordPress Page Builder to Design Your Website

While WordPress themes are extremely easy to use and customize, sometimes you may not find the right layout for your needs.

This is where SeedProd comes in. It is the best WordPress page builder plugin on the market and allows you to easily create custom layouts for your website.

SeedProd drag and drop WordPress theme builder

It comes with dozens of templates to use as a starting point. After that, you can add new elements with drag and drop or edit any aspect of the layout by simply pointing and clicking.

Building an author website using SeedProd page builder

You can even use it to create a custom WordPress theme without writing any code.

The best part is that SeedProd is theme agnostic, so it would work with any WordPress theme that you are using on your website.

Creating Content for Your Personal Website

Once you have selected a design for your website, the next step is to start adding content.

WordPress comes with two commonly used content types by default. These are called posts and pages.

While posts are part of a blog, pages are used to create important sections of your website and give it a proper structure.

To create a page, you need to simply head over to Pages » Add New page. First, provide a title for your page and then start adding content below.

Add new page

WordPress comes with an intuitive content editor that allows you to add content elements as blocks. This way you can create beautiful content layouts for all your posts and pages.

To familiarize yourself with the editor, see our tutorial on how to use WordPress content editor for beginners.

Following are a few important pages that you can add to your personal website.

About Page

About page example

You need to create an about page where users can learn more about you.

Many personal site owners use their about page as the front page of their website.

Use the about page to tell users who you are, what you do, awards you have won, and link to some samples of your work.

Let users know how they can get in touch with you through social media and by email. Take a look at our CEO, Syed Balkhi’s about page for inspiration.

Contact Page

A contact page example on a personal website

A lot of people don’t want to contact you through social media. This is why you will see contact pages on almost every website on the internet.

You need to add a contact page on your website with information about how users can send you a quick message.

WordPress does not come with a built-in contact form, but there are dozens of form builder plugins available.

We recommend using WPForms, which is the best WordPress contact form plugin on the market. It is used by over 5 million websites.

Contact form builder

It allows you to easily create beautiful forms for your website using a simple drag and drop tool.

Note: There is also a free version of WPForms with limited features called WPForms Lite.

Adding a Portfolio Section to Your Personal Website

Personal websites allow you to prominently showcase your work by adding a portfolio section.

Many professionals like photographers, artists, writers, designers, programmers, need an easy way to showcase their work on their website.

In WordPress, you have multiple options to beautifully add a portfolio section to your personal website.

1. Add Portfolio Using The Default WordPress Editor

This method is easier, and you can create a portfolio by simply creating a portfolio page to your website.

Add portfolio page using default editor

You can add the default Gallery block to showcase photos and images. You can also create a separate page for each item in your portfolio and then link images on the main portfolio page to the corresponding page.

2. Create a Portfolio Section Using a Plugin

This method is more flexible and recommended for all users.

For this method, you’ll need WP Portfolio plugin. It is the best WordPress portfolio plugin that allows you to easily create a beautiful portfolio section for your personal websites.

Add new portfolio

You can choose to create a portfolio to showcase images, videos, or websites (useful for web designers).

After that, you can add portfolio items by providing details like a thumbnail, description, category, and more.

Add portfolio items

3. Add Portfolio Using a Gallery Plugin

This method is recommended for creating a media-rich portfolio particularly if you are a photographer, graphics or web designer, video creator, and more.

We recommend using Envira Gallery. It is the best WordPress gallery plugin on the market and allows you to easily add beautiful galleries to showcase on your portfolio page.

Envira Gallery allows you to create albums, organize your works by tags, add video galleries, open your gallery images in popups and sliders.

Edit Gallery images

These galleries can be added anywhere and look good on mobile too.

Adding a Blog Section to Your Personal Website

Adding a blog section to your Personal website allows you to easily post regular updates on your website.

These updates could be about your work, personal life, or anything you want. It also helps your personal website to rank for the right keywords related to the main topics of your personal website.

WordPress started out as a blogging platform, so it is still very well equipped to start a blog and grow it.

Simply create a new page in WordPress and give it a title like ‘Blog’.

Create a new blog page

After that, go to Settings » Reading page and under the ‘Your homepage displays’ option select ‘A static page’ option.

Setting a blog page

Below that, you can choose the page you want to use as your home page and the blog page you created earlier.

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

You can now add the Blog page to your website’s navigation menu.

Add blog to navigation menu

To write new blog posts, simply go to Posts » Add New page and start writing.

New blog post

For details, take a look at our article on how to add a new blog post in WordPress.

Adding Testimonials to Your Personal Website

Testimonials help you show off what others are saying about you.

This kind of social proof helps you establish authority and develop trust.

Adding testimonials to your WordPress site is quite easy. We’ll show you two methods and you can choose one that works best for you.

Add Testimonials Using Strong Testimonials

First, you need to install and activate the Strong Testimonials plugin.

Managing testimonials

It allows you to easily add testimonials to your website and then displays them using shortcodes.

Adding testimonials to WordPress

Next, decide where you want to display testimonials. You can add them to your homepage or any other page, sidebar, or blog post.

Add Testimonials Using SeedProd

This method is easier and recommended for beginners.

For this method, you’ll need SeedProd. It is the best WordPress page builder plugin that allows you to easily create beautiful pages for your website.

SeedProd comes with a built-in testimonials block that you can drag and drop to your homepage or a testimonials page.

Adding testimonials using SeedProd

For more details, see our tutorial on how to add rotating testimonials in WordPress.

Integrating Your Personal Website to Social Media Profiles

There is no denying that social media can help you promote your personal brand to more audiences.

There are countless WordPress plugins that allow you to integrate social media buttons and widgets on your website. However, many of them will slow down your website which is bad for SEO and user experience.

Following are a few social media plugins that work like a charm without slowing down your website.

1. Smash Balloon Social Media Feeds for WordPress

Smash Balloon’s Social Media Feeds for WordPress is one of the best social media plugins for WordPress. It comes as a toolkit to display content from your different social media profiles on your personal website.

Normally, WordPress doesn’t let you embed content from Facebook and Instagram directly. Smash Balloon’s Facebook and Instagram feeds allow you to easily embed content from those platforms in WordPress.

Social feeds in WordPress

It also works for Facebook Groups, YouTube, and Twitter. You also get options to choose different styles and layout for your feed.

2. Shared Counts

Shared Counts allows you to easily display social sharing buttons on your WordPress posts and pages.

Shared counts

Unlike other social sharing buttons, Shared Counts doesn’t store any data or track users and it is super fast. If you are moving from HTTP to HTTPs then social share count will fetch both so you don’t lose any social share counts.

3. Uncanny Automator

It takes a lot of time to write a blog post and then go on and post it manually to all your social profiles.

Uncanny Automator is the best WordPress automation tool on the market. Using it you can easily automate social media tasks when you perform a certain action on your WordPress site.

Uncanny Automator

It works with dozens of essential WordPress plugins like WPForms, MemberPress, WooCommerce, and more. Plus you can connect to apps on Zapier, and even your smart devices using IFTTT.

Basically, you can automate your WordPress site to perform routine tasks behind the scenes.

Start Building an Email List

While social media platforms are a great way to build your personal brand on the internet.

However, you don’t own those platforms and if they block you then you’ll lose your following instantly.

That’s why all the smart marketers will tell you to start building your email list right away. Email marketing gives you direct access to a user’s inbox and it is much cheaper than boosting your posts on social media.

We recommend using Constant Contact which is the most beginner-friendly email marketing service on the market suitable for both personal and small business websites.

Constant Contact

Once you have signed up for Constant Contact, you can add an email newsletter sign-up form by using the default embed code or by using WPForms.

However, that won’t get you as many subscribers as you need. For that, we have some more tips ahead.

Growth Hacking for Personal Websites

Now that you have added different types of content to your personal website. It is time to start promoting it to establish your personal brand and grow your influence.

Luckily, WordPress gives you access to powerful tools that help you quickly grow your website without any special marketing skills.

1. Get More Email Sign ups and Social Followers

Simply adding social media buttons to your website or an email sign-up form for your newsletter doesn’t help you gain more followers.

You’ll have to nudge your users with more creative ways to take action.

This is where OptinMonster comes in. It is the best conversion optimization software on the market and allows you to easily convert website visitors into subscribers, leads, and customers.

OptinMonster example

It comes with intuitive tools like lightbox popups, exit-intent popups, countdown timers, header & footer bars, and more.

You can trigger your campaigns based on a variety of rulesets so that you don’t annoy users and only show them custom messages at the exact time.

2. Optimize your WordPress SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) helps you get more free traffic to your website from search engines.

Many beginners find SEO to be something too technical. Even though WordPress is very SEO friendly out of the box but there is still a lot more you can do.

You’ll need to install and activate the All in One SEO for WordPress plugin. It is the best WordPress SEO plugin on the market and allows you to easily optimize your website without any technical SEO skills.

Over 3 million websites use AIOSEO, and they have a free version as well.

AIOSEO setup wizard

It comes with a set up wizard that will take care of the basic setup for you. After that, it will show you a site-wide SEO audit with practical tips to improve your SEO.

TruSEO score

You’ll also see a TruSEO analysis for each post and page on your website with simple instructions for improvement.

Plus, it has advanced features like Schema markup, social media integration, Local SEO, Image SEO, powerful sitemaps, and more.

To learn more see our complete WordPress SEO guide for beginners or follow our All in One SEO setup tutorial.

3. Track Your Personal Website Analytics

Now that you have content on your personal website with a basic marketing infrastructure setup, it is time to see how your site is doing.

The easiest way to track your website analytics is by using MonsterInsights. It is the best Google Analytics plugin for WordPress and allows you to easily install Google Analytics on your personal website.

Once installed, it will start showing your most popular content and other website analytics right inside the WordPress dashboard.

MonsterInsights reports

The free version of MonsterInsights is sufficient for most personal websites, but you can also upgrade to Pro for advanced tracking for buttons, forms, and eCommerce conversions. For more details, see our WordPress conversion tracking guide for beginners.

We hope this article helped you learn how to create a personal website using WordPress. You may also want to see what other types of websites you can make with WordPress or see these practical ideas to make money online using WordPress.

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

How to Automatically Post to Facebook From WordPress

Do you want your blog posts to be automatically posted to Facebook from your WordPress site?

Facebook is one of the largest social media sites in the world with more than 2 billion active users. Sharing your blog posts there will help increase pageviews and drive traffic to your site.

In this article, we’ll show you how to automatically post to Facebook whenever you publish a new WordPress blog post.

How to Automatically Post to Facebook From WordPress

Why Automatically Share WordPress Posts on Facebook?

The easiest way to build a following and staying in touch with your users is by building an email list. Still, you can’t ignore the huge userbase of social media websites like Facebook.

As the largest social media website, Facebook has more than 2 billion active users. This global audience can become a big source of traffic for your WordPress website.

You will need to engage with users on Facebook to build a strong following. This means answering comments, sharing content, and posting regular updates on Facebook.

This can become overwhelming, so we’ve put together a complete social media cheat sheet for WordPress to help you get started.

With that being said, let’s have a look at how to easily post to Facebook when you publish a new post in WordPress.

Video Tutorial

Subscribe to WPBeginner

If you’d prefer written instructions, just keep reading.

Automatically Post to Facebook from WordPress Using Uncanny Automator

Uncanny Automator is the best WordPress automation plugin that helps create automated workflows without writing any code.

It connects with 50+ plugins and thousands of apps, including Facebook, Google Drive, Slack, Asana, Twitter, Instagram, and more.

Uncanny Automator

A free version is available and gives you 1,000 free credits to use with Facebook. Once you have used those credits you’ll need a Pro account or higher to continue posting automatically to Facebook.

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

Upon activation, you will also be asked to install the free version of Uncanny Automator. This light version of the plugin is limited in features but is used as the base for the Pro version.

Next, you need to navigate to the Automator » License Activation page to enter your license key. You can find this information under your account on the Uncanny Automator website.

Uncanny Automator License Key

Connecting Your Facebook Page to Uncanny Automator

Before you can start to create a Facebook automation, you’ll need to connect your Facebook page to Uncanny Automator.

To do that, navigate to Automator » Settings and click on the Facebook tab. Once there, you’ll need to click the Connect Facebook Pages button.

Click the Connect Facebook Pages Button

After you click this button, a popup will appear where you can log in to your Facebook account.

Once you log in you will be asked if you want to continue and let Uncanny Automator receive your name and profile picture. You’ll need to click the ‘Continue as’ button.

Click the Continue Button

Next, you’ll be asked whether you want to use an Instagram business account with Uncanny Automator. You might like to do that if you plan to create automated workflows with Instagram, too.

For this tutorial, we’ll just click the Next button.

You Can Connect Uncanny Automator to an Instragram Business Account

You’ll then be shown a list of your Facebook pages. You need to select the one you wish to post to and then click the Next button.

Select the Page You Wish to Post To

Having done that, you’ll be asked to give Uncanny Automator permission to do certain things with your Instagram account and Facebook page.

You need to answer Yes to the options regarding the Facebook page, and then you should click the Done button.

Give Uncanny Automator Permission

You should answer Yes to the Instagram options as well if you plan to create Instagram automations using Uncanny Automator.

Uncanny Automator is now linked to Facebook and you should click the OK button to finish the setup.

Uncanny Automator Is Now Linked to Facebook

Automatically Posting to Facebook from Uncanny Automator

Now we’re ready to create an automated workflow to post to Facebook. Uncanny Automator calls these ‘Recipes’. Simply navigate to the Automator » Add new page to create your first recipe.

You’ll be asked to select whether you want to create a ‘Logged-in’ recipe or an ‘Everyone’; recipe. You should select ‘Logged-in users’ and then click the Confirm button.

Select 'Logged-in Users'

You can now start to build your first Uncanny Automator recipe.

First, you’ll need to add a title. We’ll call the recipe ‘Automatically Post to Facebook’ and type this in the title field.

Add a Title

Next, you need to define the condition that will trigger the action. We want to post to Facebook whenever a WordPress post is published. So you’ll need to click the WordPress icon under ‘Select an integration’.

You’ll now see a list of WordPress triggers. You should search for ‘publish’ and choose the trigger called ‘A user publishes a type of post with a taxonomy term in a taxonomy‘.

You'll See a List of WordPress Triggers

For this tutorial, we want to post to Facebook when we publish a blog post, not a page. So we’ll change the post type to Post and leave the other settings unchanged. Don’t forget to save your settings by clicking the Save button.

Change the Post Type to 'Post'

If you only want certain types of content to be posted on Facebook, then you can choose a single category or tag by selecting the appropriate options from the Taxonomy and Taxonomy term drop downs.

Next, you’ll need to choose the action that will happen each time a post is published. Start by clicking the ‘Add action’ button.

Click the Add Action Button

You should now see the list of integrated services that Uncanny Automator supports. Simply click the Facebook button.

Click the Facebook Button

You’ll now see a list of Facebook actions. You should select the option that says ‘Publish a post to a Facebook page’.

Select the Option that Says 'Publish a Post to a Facebook Page

If you have connected to more than one Facebook page, then you’ll need to select the one you wish to post to.

After that, you should type the message in the Message text box that you wish to be published to your Facebook page with each post.

Select the Facebook Page You Wish to Post To

Next, you need to add the post title and URL to the message. You need to press the Enter key to start a new line, and then you should click the asterisk button at the right of the Message text box.

Click the Asterisk Icon

Now you need to click the down arrow icon next to ‘A user publishes a Post’ to access the fields that add information about the post that has been published.

The available tokens include the post type and title, the post URL and content, and more. You should click on ‘Post title’ to insert it into the message.

Click Post Title to Insert It into the Message

Follow the same steps to add the post URL to a line of its own. The message should now look like the screenshot below, and you can customize it to suit your own WordPress site and Facebook page.

Completed Message

Don’t forget to click the Save button to store your action.

If you like, you can set add a delay before Uncanny Automator posts to Facebook. That way you can schedule the post for when your social media audience is most active.

You need to hover your mouse above the Live switch on the right until a Delay button appears. Once you click it you’ll be able to choose whether the action will be triggered after a time delay or on a specific date and time.

Trigger After a Time Delay or on a Specific Date and Time

Now your recipe is complete but inactive. The trigger and action have been set, but won’t be activated when you publish a new post. To change that, you need to switch the toggle button from Draft to Live.

Switch the Toggle Button from Draft to Live

Now that your recipe is live, the next time you publish a post on your WordPress website, a message will also be posted to your Facebook page.

To test this, we published a new blog post on our test site, and this is how the post appeared on our Facebook page.

This Is How the Post Appeared on Our Facebook Page

If you see that the right thumbnail image isn’t appearing, then you can see our guide on how to fix the incorrect Facebook thumbnail issue in WordPress.

We hope this tutorial helped you learn how to automatically post to Facebook from WordPress.

You may also want to learn how to create an email newsletter the right way, or check out our list of must have plugins to grow your site.

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.

How to Allow User Registration on Your WordPress Site

Do you want to allow users to register on your site?

You can enable user registration in WordPress to allow users to add posts, comment, or perform other actions on your website.

In this article, we’ll show you how to easily allow user registration on your WordPress site and how to manage users.

Allowing user registration in WordPress

Here is the list of topics we will cover in this tutorial:

Note: This guide focuses on adding users to your WordPress site with default user roles and capabilities. If you’re looking to make money online by allowing users to pay for premium content and access to a community, then you should see our ultimate guide to creating a WordPress membership site instead.

Enabling User Registration in WordPress

WordPress comes with built-in functionality to manage user registrations. It is turned off by default, but you can easily turn it on.

Simply head over to the Settings » General page in your WordPress admin area. Scroll down to the ‘Membership’ section and check the box next to ‘Anyone can register’ option.

Open user registration in WordPress

Next you need to select the default user role. This is the user role assigned to each new user who registers on your website.

Each user role in WordPress comes with its own permissions and capabilities. See our guide on WordPress user roles and permissions to learn more about user roles in WordPress.

The default user role is ‘Subscriber’, which you can change to any other user role available.

For example, if you want users to write posts on your website then you can change the default user role to Contributor or Author.

Important: Never use ‘Administrator’ as the default user role for user registrations, or a new user may be able to take over your website and lock you out.

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

Now your WordPress site is open to user registrations. You can visit your WordPress login page, and you’ll see an option to register as a new user.

Register for new account

After opening your website for user registration, you would want to let users know that they can sign up and login to their account.

There are multiple ways to do that.

You can simply add links in your WordPress sidebar to your login and registration page, or you can create custom login and registration pages for your website.

We’ll show you 3 different methods, so you can choose the one that best suits your needs.

Method 1: Adding The Meta Widget to WordPress Sidebar

The simplest way to add a login link is by adding the meta widget to your sidebar.

Simply go to the Appearance » Widgets page and add the ‘Meta’ widget to a sidebar. You can see our guide on how to add and use widgets in WordPress for detailed instructions.

Add meta widget to your WordPress sidebar

The meta widget includes links to register, log in / log out, RSS feed, comments feed, and WordPress.org website.

This is how it appears on our example website:

Meta widget preview

Method 2: Creating Custom Login Pages Using WPForms

The problem with the first method is that there is no way to customize the registration or login forms. You can’t add form fields or change the design of the forms, and they wouldn’t match the design of your website.

By using your own custom login pages, you can offer a much better user experience. You can embed your forms on any page on your website, and add form fields to collect any information you want.

We’ll show you different ways to create your own custom login pages. The easiest one is by using the WPForms plugin.

WPForms is the best WordPress contact form plugin on the market. It comes with a user registration addon that allows you to easily add login and registration forms anywhere on your website.

WPForms website

First thing you need to do is install and activate the WPForms plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Note: You will need at least Pro license to access user registration addon.

Upon activation, you need to visit WPForms » Settings page to enter your license key. You can get this license key from your account on WPForms website.

WPForms license key

After verification, you need to head over to WPForms » Addons page.

On this page, scroll down to ‘User Registration Addon’ and click on the Install Addon button next to it.

User registration addon

WPForms will install the addon, and then you will need to click on the activate button to start using it.

You are now ready to create custom registration and login forms using WPForms.

Creating a Custom Registration Form

Simply visit the WPForms » Add New page to launch the WPForms’ form builder.

First you need to enter a form name and then search for user registration template under the ‘Select a Template’ section.

Select user registration template

Click on the ‘Use Template’ button to continue, and WPForms will create a simple WordPress user registration form for you.

You can now add new fields from the left panel as well as customize the order of existing fields by using a simple drag and drop interface.

Edit user registration form

Once you are done adding the fields, click on the ‘Settings’ menu on the left.

Then select the ‘User Registration’ tab.

Map form fields

Here you can map each form field to information in the user’s profile, select the user role, enable notifications, select the confirmation page, and enable user activation.

The user activation feature helps you reduce spam user registration in WordPress.

If you select the manual method, then all users must be approved by an admin before they can login to your site.

user activation options

If you select the email method, then the user must click on an activation link before they can login to your website.

Besides adding form fields, you can also connect your form with other WPForms addons.

For instance, you can connect to your email marketing service provider and automatically add new users to your email list. Similarly, you can connect WPForms to payment services like PayPal and Stripe to receive online payments.

When you’re finished, don’t forget to click on the Save button at the top right corner of the screen to save your form settings.

You can now exit the form builder by clicking on the close button.

Your user registration form is ready to be added to your WordPress site.

Simply create a new WordPress page or edit an existing page that you would like to use as the registration page.

On the page edit screen, you need to add WPForms blocks to your content area.

Add WPForms block

From the WPForms block, simply click on the drop down menu and select the ‘User registration form’ you created earlier.

You can now save or publish your page, and then visit the page to see your custom user registration page in action.

User registration page preview

Creating a Custom Login Form

Now that your custom user registration page is active, let’s add a custom login form to your WordPress site.

To get started, visit WPForms » Add New. This will launch the form builder interface of WPForms.

You need to provide a name for your custom login form and then select ‘User Login Form’ as your template.

Login form template

WPForms will now create a new login form.

By default, it only has the username and password fields.

Edit login form

You can add additional fields to the form by adding them from the left panel.

Next, you need to click on the settings tab and then click on the ‘Confirmation’ tab. This is where you can define what to do after a successful login.

You can show users a message, redirect them to the page they came from, or redirect them to any other page on your site.

Login form confirmation

Click on the Save button on the top right corner of the screen to store your form settings.

You can now exit the form builder interface by clicking on the close button.

Your custom login form is ready to be added into your WordPress site.

You can add your custom login form to a page by creating a new page and then adding the WPForms block to the content area.

Adding login form to a page

You can also add your custom login form to a sidebar.

Simply head over to Appearance » Widgets page and add the WPForms block or the legacy widget to a sidebar.

Add login form to your sidebar

Select the custom login form you just created from the drop-down menu, and then click on the Update button to store your widget settings.

You can now visit your website to see your custom login form in action.

Login form preview

For more on this topic, see our guide on how to create a custom login page for WordPress.

Method 3. Create a Custom Login Page using SeedProd

Now if you use WPForms alone to create a custom login page, then the design of your login page will still depend on your WordPress theme.

What if you wanted to design a custom login page that looks more professional and sleek?

SeedProd allows you to easily create a beautiful custom login page for your website.

It is the most powerful WordPress page builder plugin on the market. You can use it to create any type of page without writing any code or learning any special design skills.

First, you need to install and activate the SeedProd plugin. For more details, see our step by step guide on how to install a WordPress plugin.

Upon activation, you’ll be asked to enter your SeedProd license key. You can find this information under your account on the SeedProd website.

Enter your SeedProd license key

Next, you need to visit the SeedProd » Landing Pages page and click on the Set up a Login Page button.

Set up a login page

Next, you will be asked to choose a template for your login page.

SeedProd comes with several professionally designed templates to choose from, or you can also start with a blank canvas.

Choose login page template

Next, you need to provide a name and URL for your custom login page.

Then click on Save and Start Editing button to continue.

Login page settings

This will launch the SeedProd’s page builder interface.

You’ll see a live preview of your login page where you can point and click to edit any item.

Editing your login page in SeedProd

You can also add new blocks to your login page from the left column.

Once you are satisfied with the design, switch to the Page Settings tab.

Login page configuration

From here, you can redirect users from the default WordPress login page to your custom login page. You can also run your login page under isolation mode, which disables any WordPress header and footer scripts from loading.

Once you are satisfied with your changes, you can simply click on the Save button and publish your login page.

Publish your custom login page

You can now open a new browser tab in the Incognito mode and visit your login page to see it in action.

SeedProd login page preview

For more details, see our ultimate guide on how to create a custom login page in WordPress.

Managing Users in WordPress

You can view all registered users on your website by clicking on Users in the WordPress admin. WordPress will show you a list of users with their usernames, names, role, and email addresses.

Managing users in WordPress

As an administrator, you can delete any user at any time you want.

You can also edit user profiles, change their roles, and you can even change their passwords.

This gives you full control over what users can or cannot do on your WordPress site.

That’s all! We hope this article helped you learn how to allow user registration on your WordPress site. You may also want to learn how to choose the best web design software, or see our expert pick of the best email marketing services for small business.

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.