The 1950s New York Yankees are prime examples, as are the 1990s Chicago Bulls. But now, as this year’s Plugin Madness draws to a close, the winning plugin Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) joins the ranks of all-time championship dynasties, securing its third Plugin Madness trophy since the event’s inception in 2016.

This year’s victory also marks back-to-back championships for ACF, the world’s most widely used custom fields plugin, which edged out WooCommerce in a nail-biting, buzzer-beating finish.

Before the final round, ACF also outmaneuvered other formidable competitors, including Table Press, Wordfence, and previous Plugin Madness champion Smush, underscoring ACF’s enduring relevance and widespread popularity within the WordPress community.

What is Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)?

ACF is the most widely used custom fields plugin that transforms WordPress sites into fully-fledged content management systems, providing comprehensive tools to manipulate data more effectively.

Using the plugin, you gain total control over your WordPress edit screens and custom field data. The plugin allows you to add customized fields to any page, enhancing site functionality with elements like customer reviews or detailed product descriptions. It’s also user-friendly, and its intuitive interface ensures both novices and seasoned developers can maximize its capabilities.

With over 5 million active installations, ACF has long been a cornerstone of the WordPress plugin ecosystem. The team behind ACF consistently drives innovation with new features and improvements that empower developers to build highly functional websites effortlessly.  

Now, with its third Plugin Madness championship in tow, the plugin has further cemented itself as a pillar within the WordPress community, with more innovation and inspiration to come.     

Previous Plugin Madness Winners 

Now in its ninth year, Plugin Madness has seen a wide variety of notable winners. 

While ACF won its second championship last year, The Plus Addons for Elementor took the crown as a first-time competitor in 2022. In 2021, FluentCRM made headlines with a Cinderella story of its own. 

Elementor claimed victories in 2020 and 2019, while Smush had a similar back-to-back run in 2018 and 2017.

A big thank you goes out to everyone who nominated a plugin and participated in the weekly voting. 

Plugin Madness is an excellent platform for highlighting outstanding plugins and the teams and individuals behind them.

Congratulations once again to ACF on clinching this year’s Plugin Madness championship!

The post Advanced Custom Fields is Your 2024 Plugin Madness Champion!  appeared first on Torque.

While the last few weeks were all about nominating the best WordPress plugins, it’s now time to shift focus as the competition truly begins. Voting for Plugin Madness 2024 is now open, kicking off a seven-week gauntlet of head-to-head plugin matchups.

You can cast your votes below or visit the Plugin Madness page here.

Every Vote Counts 

With the field of 64 plugins set, the question remains, who will dominate the court, and who will stumble?

Your votes are crucial, week by week, to determine the answer, carrying forward your preferred contenders through each round. Make sure and mark your calendars for the following voting schedule.  

– Week 1 (64): March 4

– Week 2 (32): March 11

– Week 3 (16): March 18

– Week 4 (8): March 25

– Week 5 (4): April 1

– Week 6 (2): April 8

– Week 7 (Winner announced): April 15

Get ready for the thrill of last-second victories and ensure you’re part of the action every step of the way. Ready to get in the game? Vote using the bracket above and make sure you come back to Torquemag.io each week to cast your votes in the following rounds.

What is Plugin Madness?

Plugin Madness is a bracket-style competition in which 64 WordPress plugins compete against one another through weekly voting rounds. 

This year marks the ninth annual Plugin Madness, and your votes are key to the game.

While some brackets are split by regions, the Plugin Madness bracket is divided into four categories: Marketing, Optimization, Maintenance, and eCommerce.This ensures a diverse and exciting competition, showcasing the wide versatility of WordPress plugins.

Get in on the Madness

Make sure and come back each week to vote, helping your favorite plugins advance through each round. Will your top pick make a buzzer-beater or be benched before the finals? Only your votes will decide!

This year’s Plugin Madness is set to be bigger and better than ever. Whether you’re new to WordPress or a seasoned pro, your input is crucial in making this event a slam-dunk success. 

Make sure and cast your votes, and may the best plugin win!
For more information click here.

The post Voting is Now Open for Plugin Madness 2024! appeared first on Torque.

Plugin Madness is a bracket-style competition in which 64 WordPress plugins compete against one another through weekly voting rounds—and the 2024 competition has officially kicked off. Nominations for Plugin Madness 2024 are now open! 

Nominations for Plugin Madness 2024 are now closed. Check back on March 4 when voting begins!

This year marks the ninth annual Plugin Madness, and your nominations are key to tipping off the game.

Seeking the Best Plugins

Think of yourself as a scout, seeking out the most valuable players in the plugin arena. Plugin Madness is all about identifying plugins that not only solve problems but also enhance the WordPress experience. 

Whether it’s a plugin that’s been a game-changer for your website or one that’s just too good to ignore, we want to hear all about it. Simply fill out the form here to submit your plugin of choice. 

Remember, to qualify for the competition, plugins must be: 

• Listed in the WordPress Plugin Repository 
• Be updated within the last 12 months 
• Be compatible with WordPress 6.2+

Plugin Categories

Some brackets are split by regions; the Plugin Madness bracket will be categorized into four key areas: Marketing, Optimization, Maintenance, and eCommerce. 

This classification ensures a diverse and exciting competition, showcasing the wide versatility of WordPress plugins.

The Game Plan: Important Dates

Make sure and mark your calendars! Plugin Madness nominations run through February 26th. After that, the real fun begins with the voting phase starting on March 4. The competition heats up with each passing week as the bracket dwindles from 64 to 32 and, ultimately, this year’s Plugin Madness champion!

 Here’s the breakdown:

• Week 1 (64): March 4
• Week 2 (32): March 11
• Week 3 (16): March 18
• Week 4 (8): March 25
• Week 5 (4): April 1
• Week 6 (2): April 18
• Week 7 (Winner announced): April 15

Join the Madness: Be Part of the Action

Your role in the madness doesn’t end with nominations. Make sure and come back each week to vote, helping your favorite plugins advance through each round. 

Will your top pick make a buzzer-beater or be benched before the finals? Only your votes will decide!

Don’t Miss This Year’s Slam Dunk Event

This year’s Plugin Madness is set to be bigger and better than ever. Whether you’re new to WordPress or a seasoned pro, your input is crucial for making this event a slam-dunk success. 

Make sure to submit your nomination, don’t forget to vote, and may the best plugin win!

For more information on Plugin Madness, click here.

The post Nominations Now Open For Plugin Madness 2024! appeared first on Torque.

However, a new in-depth study by the WordPress Performance Team indicates that translations could slow your site down. Testing showed that localized websites, or websites that  are tailored to specific target audiences and languages in different regions, can load up to 50 percent slower than non-localized sites. 

According to WordPress Contributor Pascal Birchler, “In addition to core itself, each plugin and theme has its own translation file, which has to be loaded and parsed on every request. Loading and parsing all these translation files is an expensive task.”

The blog post goes on to discuss a number of ways to speed up sites with translations. One option is to use a different file format. When downloading translation packs from translate.worpress.org, they are in .mo file format. Converting them to .php may help speed up your site. To do this you’ll have to use an external tool like GlotPress.

Another option is to cache the translations on a disk or database, this will definitely free up space on your site. This isn’t the most realistic option for most people because it requires disk or database space.

A third way to speed up your site is to use the gettext PHP extension. Because the extension is not as commonly available, most sites are using the built-in .mo parser. Installing gettext has shown significant performance improvements. 

The blog went on to detail three more solutions, though all require developer experience. 

Suffice to say, the conversation around translations in WordPress is taking on a language of its own. While there have been no decisions made about how the Performance Team will move forward to fix the issue, they are collecting feedback, which you can submit here starting Aug. 6.

The fourth phase of Gutenberg, is slated to include Core implementation for multilingual sites, but because we are just ending Phase 2, that could take some time. 

Because this is such an important issue to the community, we’ve provided a few additional ways you can continue to translate your site without slowing it down.

Why You Want Translations on Your Site

As we stated above, WordPress is an increasingly global CMS. Just last year alone, there were WordPress community events in every continent. Only displaying information in English automatically excludes a huge part of the population, not to mention large segments of the WordPress community. 

An English-only site could limit new contributors and users, and it might prevent potential customers from finding you. On the other hand, enabling translations can set you apart from your competitors. If a customer can read a product description in their preferred language, they’re more likely to engage with it. 

Finally, translations give you more search engine visibility, automatically increasing your SEO. Different languages can present unique keyword opportunities and search patterns. By conducting keyword research in each target language, you can optimize your content for those specific search terms and rank higher in local search results. 

Translations also make it possible to receive backlinks from other websites in those languages, expanding your reach. You also have the opportunity to localize your content to different regions. 

Translation Plugins

If you’re still looking to translate your website, using a plugin can be a great way to do just that without slowing down your site. 

While there are a wide array of choices when it comes to translation plugins, they ultimately break out into two categories: automatic and manual. 

Automatic translation plugins will, as the name indicates, automatically translate everything to your visitor’s preferred language. These plugins are less time intensive but can be less accurate. 

Manual plugins require you to manually translate all your content. Though this can be incredibly time consuming, you are less likely to make errors. 

All of them will allow users of all languages to enjoy your content. Here are five of our favorites:

Weglot

Weglot is incredibly easy to set up and has a big focus on SEO. It automatically translates all content on your site and updates in real time so you don’t have to continue updating anytime you add an article, though you can edit translations when you need to.

It detects your visitor’s preferred language through your browser and displays that language. If for some reason they want to view another language, the convenient Language Switcher allows for quick and easy language changes. 

TranslatePress

TranslatePress supports both manual and automatic translating, integrating with Google Translate for machine translations and is compatible with various themes and plugins, including certain page builders and WooCommerce. 

A nice plus with this plugin is you can translate metadata, URLs, and create separate sitemaps for each language. The free version allows you to translate your site into one language though the premium version has support for unlimited languages. 

GTranslate

GTranslate uses Google Translate to automatically translate your website content into multiple languages. The plugin uses a cloud-based approach keeping your website light and focuses on SEO. Like Weglot, it also offers a customizable language switcher which can be added as a widget, shortcode, or menu item.

There is both a free and premium version but unlike most premium plugins, it uses a monthly subscription rather than a yearly license. 

WPML

WPML or The WordPress Multilingual Plugin is the only one on the list that doesn’t offer a free version, but it is incredibly powerful. The plugin supports manual translations but also integration with professional translation services, giving you options.

It supports translating custom post types, custom fields, menus and widgets. And of course it is incredibly SEO friendly, allowing you to translate your metadata, permalinks, and more. As we mentioned, WPML isn’t free but it’s a full-featured option. 

Polylang

Polylang is a manual language translation plugin. You can translate in as many languages as you want, use a different domain per language, and the ability to language switch via widget. 

The plugin also allows you to translate custom taxonomies, sticky posts, RSS feeds, custom post types, and more. 

Conclusion

Translating your site opens you up to a wide range of new users. While the WordPress Performance Team works on ways to speed up local translations, these plugins will keep you going. Make your site more accessible, enhance your SEO, and reach people you wouldn’t have otherwise. 

Whether you choose manual or automatic translations, your future fans from across the globe will thank you. 

The post Translations May Slow Down Your WordPress Site, Plugins Can Help appeared first on Torque.

Fortunately, with WordPress, translating websites is much simpler from a technical standpoint. That’s because translation plugins for WordPress enable you to easily create new versions of your site in other languages. Plus, most plugins will take care of technical elements like language switchers.

In this article, we’ll discuss how translation plugins work and why you should use one. Then, we’ll introduce you to five of the best (and latest) translation plugins for WordPress. Let’s get to it!

What Is a Translation Plugin?

A WordPress translation plugin is an extension that helps you create a multilingual website by translating your content into different languages. These plugins can drastically simplify the process of translating your material. Many offer automatic translation, manual translation, or a combination of both.

If you’re not sure what the difference is between manual and automatic translation, here’s a quick breakdown of how each method works:

• Manual translation. Some plugins allow you to manually translate your content by creating separate posts, pages, or custom post types for each language. This method gives you greater control over translations and usually results in higher-quality translations (since they are done by humans). However, manual translations can be time-consuming and may require hiring professional translators.
• Automatic translation. Some translation plugins connect your site to machine translation engines such as Google Translate or Microsoft Azure Translator. These plugins detect your website’s content and automatically translate it into the languages you select. While automatic translations are quick and easy, they may not always be accurate or convey the intended meaning.
• Combination of manual and automatic translation. With some plugins, you can leverage a combination of both manual and automatic translations. This approach allows you to use machine translations as a starting point and then manually edit and refine them as needed.

Your choice of WordPress translation plugin will likely come down to two factors. These are the type of translation you want to use and the user experience you’re looking for. Now, let’s discuss why you may want to use a translation plugin for WordPress.

Why Sites Use Translation Plugins

The primary goal of using a translation plugin is to make your site available in other languages. Generally speaking, this makes it more accessible and allows you to reach a larger audience. Using a WordPress translation plugin comes with its own set of benefits, including:

• Improving the user experience. Offering content in a user’s native language significantly enhances their browsing experience. This can lead to better engagement and increased trust in your website.
• It’s cost-effective. Compared to building a separate website for each language or hiring professional translators for each piece of content, using a translation plugin is often more cost-effective and time-efficient.
• Access to language switchers. Most translation plugins include a language switcher feature. This makes it simple for users to toggle between languages on your website.
• Improving Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Multilingual websites have an edge in search engine rankings. Since they target keywords in various languages, they can gain visibility in the search results for multiple languages.

You don’t need to use a plugin to translate your WordPress website. However, using one can certainly help streamline this process. Even if you have the budget to pay for a developer and translators, a plugin still may be worth it – for simplicity’s sake.

5 Cutting Edge Translation Plugins for Your WordPress Site

Next, we’re going to discuss some of the best and latest WordPress translation plugins. We’ll tell you what makes each plugin unique. This way, you can get a sense of which option is the best fit for your website.

1. Translate WordPress with GTranslate

First, let’s discuss Translate WordPress with GTranslate. This is a popular WordPress plugin that uses Google Translate to automatically translate your website content into multiple languages. It offers a customizable language switcher which can be added as a widget, shortcode, or menu item.

The plugin has both free and premium versions, with the paid option offering additional features. For instance, the paid plugin includes neural machine translations, search engine indexing, manual translation editing, and URL translation.

Keep in mind that this version doesn’t come with a yearly license (as most premium WordPress plugins do). Instead, you’ll need to pay for a monthly subscription to use the plugin’s premium version.

Pricing: Translate WordPress with GTranslate is free. However, you can get the premium version with advanced features starting at $9.99 per month.

2. TranslatePress

TranslatePress is a user-friendly WordPress translation plugin that enables you to create a multilingual website with ease. One of its main selling points is the ability to translate content directly from the front end. Plus, it uses a visual translation interface, allowing you to see changes in real-time.

The plugin supports both manual and automatic translating, integrating with Google Translate for machine translations. Furthermore, TranslatePress is compatible with various themes and plugins, including certain page builders and WooCommerce. This helps ensure seamless integration with your website.

Additionally, with TranslatePress, you get access to SEO-friendly features. You’ll be able to translate metadata, URLs, and create separate sitemaps for each language. With the free version, you can translate your website into one additional language. Meanwhile, the premium version offers support for unlimited languages and additional features like translator accounts and automatic user language detection.

Pricing: TranslatePress offers both free and premium versions. Prices for paid plans are only listed in euros on the company’s site and start at €7.99 per month ($8.50 USD at the time of writing).

3. WPML

WPML (WordPress Multilingual Plugin) is a powerful and widely-used WordPress plugin for creating and managing multilingual websites. Its main selling points include support for manual translations and integration with professional translation services.

Additionally, the plugin offers advanced translation management, allowing you to assign translation roles and track translation progress. What’s more, it provides extensive translation options, supporting the translation of custom post types, custom fields, widgets, and menus.

WPML is also SEO-friendly, enabling the translation of metadata, permalinks, etc. It also generates language-specific sitemaps. Even better, the WPML plugin offers a user-friendly interface and a dedicated support team to ensure a smooth user experience.

This WordPress translation plugin doesn’t offer a free version. Still, its features and compatibility make it a popular choice for those looking to create a professional, multilingual website with high-quality translations.

Pricing: WPML licenses start at $39 per year.

4. MultilingualPress

MultilingualPress is a unique WordPress translation plugin that leverages the WordPress Multisite feature to create separate sites for each language. This option enables you to manage translations independently for each site, gain greater control over the translation process, and avoid any performance loss.

By creating separate sites, MultilingualPress ensures that each language version functions independently, reducing the risk of compatibility issues with themes and plugins. The plugin also supports automatic hreflang tags, which improves SEO by informing search engines about the available language versions of a page.

MultilingualPress offers a user-friendly interface for connecting translated content across sites. This makes it easy to manage and navigate your multilingual website. The plugin may require more initial setup due to the WordPress Multisite configuration. However, its unique approach to handling translations offers a flexible and efficient solution.

Pricing: MultilingualPress licenses start at $99 per year.

5. Google Website Translator

Last but not least, let’s discuss Google Website Translator. This WordPress plugin utilizes Google Translate’s machine translation service to instantly translate your website content into multiple languages. Its main selling points include ease of use, quick setup, and broad language support.

Additionally, the plugin offers a customizable language switcher, allowing users to choose their preferred language from a dropdown menu or widget, which can be placed anywhere on the site. It also supports inline language switchers, enabling language selection within the content itself.

Another key feature of the Google Website Translator plugin is its ability to preserve the original formatting and layout of your website during translation. This helps provide a consistent user experience across different languages.

Keep in mind that the plugin relies solely on machine translations. If you want to edit translations, you’ll need to pay for a premium license.

Price: Free with premium licenses costing a one-time fee of $50.

Conclusion

Translating a website takes a lot of work. However, if you’re a WordPress user, you get access to plugins that can simplify this process. Some plugins make it easier to translate content manually. Other options leverage automatic machine translations. Meanwhile, some tools combine both approaches.

What approach you choose to use will depend on the languages you want to target and whether you want to review translations manually. With that in mind, here are our top plugin suggestions:

1. Translate WordPress with GTranslate: This plugin enables you to leverage Google Translate and to review translations manually.
2. TranslatePress: This solution supports both manual and automatic translations, and it works seamlessly with WooCommerce.
3. WPML: With this plugin, you can get access to professional translators and assign team members specific tasks. It’s the perfect tool for translating a website as part of a team.
4. MultilingualPress: This plugin lets you leverage WordPress Multisite to set up multiple independent sites in different languages.
5. Google Website Translator: You can use this plugin to translate your site using Google Translate. It’s a great option if you’re prioritizing speed.

Do you have any questions about translation plugins for WordPress? Let’s talk about them in the comments section below!

The post <strong>5 Latest Translation Plugins for WordPress</strong> appeared first on Torque.

Fortunately, you can use abandoned cart recovery plugins to remind customers that they left products in their carts. These tools can help you boost sales and prevent users from turning to your competitors.

In this post, we’ll explain the benefits of using an abandoned cart recovery plugin. Then, we’ll recommend some of the best options on the market. Let’s get started!

Why You Should Consider Using an Abandoned Cart Recovery Plugin

Even if visitors place your products in their shopping carts, there’s no guarantee that they’ll purchase them. In fact, eCommerce stores have an abandoned cart rate of about 70 percent.

There are several reasons why customers abandon their carts. These include surprise costs like expensive shipping options or extra fees. Unexpected charges can cause customers to leave your store and do their shopping elsewhere.

Another possible cause of a high cart abandonment rate is an inefficient checkout page. If you don’t make it easy for customers to purchase a product, they likely won’t complete their orders. Therefore, you’ll want to provide a smooth checkout experience.

However, even after taking the necessary measures, you may notice that your online store still has a lot of abandoned carts. In this case, you can use an abandoned cart recovery plugin to encourage second visits.

If customers were initially window-shopping, a reminder email can prompt them to purchase the items they wanted. The right tool can help you track your customers’ carts and send messages about abandoned items. By following up with customers, you can help decrease your abandoned cart rate.

3 Best Abandoned Cart Recovery Plugins for WooCommerce

Once you decide to start targeting customers who have incomplete purchases, you’ll need to find the right tool for the job. Fortunately, many WordPress plugins are designed specifically for abandoned cart recovery. Let’s look at some of the best options on the market.

1. Metorik

If you’re having trouble tracking your customers and their abandoned carts, Metorik can be a useful tool. This plugin provides extensive reports for your revenue, orders, customer retention, and much more. Plus, you’ll be able to view your most-abandoned products and which customers were interested in them.

Once a visitor places an item in a cart, Metorik starts tracking it. If the cart is abandoned, you can send automatic email reminders with discounts to increase completed purchases. Then, the Metorik dashboard will display your new recovery rates and conversion stats.

Key features:

• Cart tracking
• Scheduled data exports
• Automated abandoned cart emails
• Segmentation of products, orders, and customers
• Integration with Google Analytics, Zendesk, WooCommerce, and more

Pricing: Metorik is a free WordPress plugin. However, you’ll need to connect it with a Metorik account. Registration starts at $50 per month, but you can also sign up for a 30-day trial.

2. Retainful

During the abandoned cart recovery process, you’ll send emails to customers to encourage them to revisit your store. Retainful enables you to automate these email campaigns.

This plugin offers an easy way to contact customers, thanks to its pre-designed email templates and a drag-and-drop editor. It also enables you to show pop-up windows to visitors who are about to abandon the checkout page. By including one-time coupon codes, you can grab a customer’s attention and incentivize them to complete their purchase.

Key features:

• Reports on when live carts are abandoned and recovered
• Automated abandoned cart emails
• Drag-and-drop email editor
• Single-use coupon codes
• Integration with Mailchimp, HubSpot, ConvertKit, and more

Pricing: Retainful has a free plan that supports abandoned cart recovery, 500 emails per month, and up to 300 contacts. If you need to extend these features, the premium version starts at $19 monthly.

3. Abandoned Cart for WooCommerce

Abandoned Cart for WooCommerce is another plugin that sends messages to customers after incomplete purchases. After a user clicks on the add-to-cart button, they can enter their email, phone number, or Facebook account details. If they abandon their items, they’ll automatically receive reminder messages.

To quickly create a workflow, you can choose one of the pre-designed abandoned cart email templates. Alternatively, the rich text editor enables you to create new templates by copying and pasting HTML. Then, you can use merge tags to personalize the emails with details about the customer and product.

Key features:

• Reports on abandoned and recovered products
• Ability to track coupon redemption rate, Click-Through Rate (CTR), and email open rate
• Automated reminder emails, texts, and Facebook messages
• 12 WooCommerce abandoned cart email templates
• Option to apply discounts and coupon codes
• Integration with Mailchimp, Drip, Sendinblue, and more

Pricing: Abandoned Cart Lite for WooCommerce is free to download. The premium version starts at $149 per year and includes abandoned cart email templates, coupon codes, and pre-built workflows.

Bonus: Live Cart by WP Engine

It won’t matter if you bring customers back to their carts if your site is bogged down with cart fragments. Though necessary for performance, cart fragments can slow down your site, especially during high-traffic events such as the holidays.

Because they constantly have to be running to power parts of your cart, namely “add to cart” or live inventory numbers, the rest of your pages like “About Us” or “Contact” can become slower.

In favor of site speed, many developers opt to disable them altogether, but WP Engine customers have access to a better solution, Live Cart.

Live Cart makes sure those fragments are only running when needed. Simultaneously optimizing your cart and site speed. It comes built into all WP Engine eCommerce plans.

Conclusion

Even with the right advertising methods, customers could still leave your products in their carts. With the right tools, you can target these visitors and contact them with discounted offers. By simply reminding customers about their abandoned carts, you can increase your number of completed orders.

To review, here are some of the best abandoned cart recovery plugins for WooCommerce stores:

1. Metorik: A cart-tracking tool that identifies commonly abandoned products, recovery rates, and conversion stats.
2. Retainful: An email marketing plugin with a drag-and-drop editor, pre-designed abandoned cart email templates, and exit pop-ups.
3. Abandoned Cart for WooCommerce: A useful plugin for sending emails, texts, and Facebook reminders to customers who abandon their carts.

Do you have any questions about the abandoned cart recovery plugins featured in this post? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post 3 Best Abandoned Cart Recovery Plugins for WooCommerce appeared first on Torque.

WordPress is one of the most influential and customizable website builders. Whether you’re working for a nonprofit attempting to modernize or a solopreneur passionate about social good, you can integrate WordPress plugins to accept donations.

With countless resources and programs out there to collect gifts, why not explore these options from WordPress for seamless integration to minimize the labor for your campaign?

GiveWP

GiveWP is one of the biggest donation plugins in WordPress and has a number of customizable options, such as tributes and goal incentives. Plus, they are adding new features such as Donation Form Blocks for Stripe, creating more variety in the types of donations it accepts.

There’s also an option to manage donations offline and online, allowing every donation channel to come together efficiently.

The interface is a little more complex – this balances out with how many forms of payment it can accept. It takes standard payment methods and some that are lesser known, including Mollie, Paytm, Paymill, and more. On top of payment options, it provides opportunities for different donation types.

WP Crowdfunding

If you’re looking for a plugin akin to Kickstarter or Indiegogo, WP Crowdfunding is the plugin for you. It is highly customizable. You can set it to include multiple charities, or just focus on one you really love.

Accepting most payment platforms, it also offers a wallet to help manage incoming donations to disperse accordingly based on your goals. You could also aggregate gifts with a crowdfunding site for additional commission fees.

Seamless Donations

Collect PayPal and credit card donations all within your WordPress dashboard with Seamless Donations. If you’re running multiple donations, you can customize it so donors can choose which campaign they want to fund, whether  they want to be one-time givers or recurring givers, and more.

Seamless does not have as many purchasable additions, despite using add-ons to generate its profit instead of transaction fees. However, the Thank You Enhanced add-on could add the personal touch you need to express your gratitude adequately. Customize thank-you pages so givers understand every donation is equally appreciated. It supports plenty of currencies and languages, making it accessible globally.

WPForms

WPForms has a beginner-friendly interface that is great for less-technical site owners. It has an easy-to-use drag and drop interface. Though it isn’t as customizable as other offerings, but it provides necessary functionality if you want to collect simple one-time or recurring donations.

You could even use WPForms to gauge volunteer interest. It allows you to create forms and collect donor information for newsletters or other analytics to help understand the causes you support.

For accepted payment platforms, it permits PayPal, Stripe, and Square.

Charitable

For a free option, the Charitable plugin is incredibly easy to use and comes with no transaction fees. Utilizing PayPal, it offers an easy, low-maintenance financial experience where you can easily manage donations and issue receipts. Saving you bookkeeping time.

Its premium features allow anonymous donations and crowdfunding options. You also have the option to embed videos. Most of Charitable’s unique features involve integration with Google Maps. Geotargeting a campaign will allow the donation prompt to appear to those in a localized area.

Donorbox

Donorbox is a versatile donation plugin that also has compatibility with non-WordPress platforms. It accepts more payment methods than most, taking Apple Pay, ACH bank payments, and foreign currencies, on top of widely accepted platforms. It allows a range of donation options, from annual to weekly, and it can also support company matching.

One of the most enticing features of Donorbox is its Goal Meter, allowing you to visualize your progress toward positive change. With its other features, such as popup forms and tax receipts, it is more expensive than other options. This makes it more accessible to businesses than nonprofits with a smaller budget.

However, with its suite – including Salesforce integration – it may be considered a worthwhile investment to provide a more personalized and accessible experience for donors, despite its 1.5% platform fee after capping out on free donations.

Conclusion

All of these plugins will help you reach your goal and make a difference. Start giving back today!

For more about GiveWP, check out the podcast we did with co-founder Matt Cromwell.

The post Give Back with These WordPress Fundraising Plugins appeared first on Torque.

In this post, we want to take a look at some of these unsung heroes and showcase a number of plugins that you might not have heard of but that can still have a great impact on your site. We’ll try to cover a number of lesser-known WordPress plugins that cover many different areas, from SEO over galleries to popups, widgets, and more.

But before we dive in, let’s first review what to keep in mind as you search for your next must-have plugin.

How to Verify a Lesser-Known Plugin is the Right Choice for Your Website

Finding the perfect plugin to meet your needs can be a daunting task. After all, with over 60,000 plugins in the WordPress plugin directory alone, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Here are a few key considerations to keep in mind as you evaluate plugins, particularly ones that are lesser known:

• Read reviews, both on the WordPress Plugin Directory and other sites. This will give you a good sense of what others think of the plugin and whether it’s likely to meet your needs.
• Check when the plugin was last updated. A plugin that is no longer being actively supported or maintained could cause compatibility issues down the road.
• Determine whether the plugin has been tested with your version of WordPress. In general, it’s best to avoid plugins that haven’t been updated in a while or ones that haven’t been tested with your version of WordPress.
• Review the plugin’s privacy policy, if available. This is particularly important if the plugin collects any data from your visitors, such as contact information or analytics.

Now that we’ve gone over what to keep in mind when evaluating plugins, let’s take a look at some of the best lesser-known plugins available.

We’ve collected 28 WordPress plugins that are real standouts that aren’t as well-known but definitely should be.

1. Simple System Status

The first on our list of super useful but lesser-known WordPress plugins is Simple System Status. It makes it easy to display the status of your installation by providing information on items such as your server’s specifications, current theme, and active plugins. You can find this in a new submenu item under the Tools’ section in WordPress.

2. Rearrange WooCommerce Products

This plugin rearranges the sort order of products on the WooCommerce shop page. You can also use it to rearrange products based on a specific category thanks to an integrated drag-and-drop functionality.

3. CAOS

CAOS (Complete Analytics Optimization Suite) for Google Analytics makes it possible to manage analytics.js/gtag-local in WordPress, using the built in Cron Schedule. This option is not only quicker but also more lightweight than many other plugins of its kind, making it a real underdog in this category.

4. Disable Emojis

The Disable Emojis plugin, as the name implies, switches off WordPress’ more recent emoji function. Consequently, if you’re not a fan of emojis, this plugin is for you. It also helps maintain GDPR compliance on your site.

5. Block Visibility

This is a great solution for anyone struggling to create dynamic content. With the Block Visibility plugin, you can easily control which blocks are visible and to whom. You’re also able to schedule when content appears or disappears using specific times, giving users access to promotions or restricting blocks with user roles, screen sizes, and query strings among other features.

6. Forget Spam Comment

Next up, the Forget Spam Comment plugin is a simple and quick method to prevent bot spam in the WordPress default commenting system. It’s a thoroughly GDPR-compliant Anti-Spam plugin and it’ll go a long way toward protecting your site against hackers.

7. Nelio Popups

Nelio Popups is more than just a WordPress popup plugin. With this user-friendly tool, you can quickly create any type of content overlay or modal using the WordPress block editor. This allows for quick and easy fabrication while also giving you full control over your popup’s content. Not to mention, with Nelio Popups web you can easily turn visitors into email subscribers or customers, translating to increased sales for your business.

8. PublishPress Checklists

Here we have a WordPress extension that aids in the preparation of your material for public release. The plugin lets you set content pre-publishing standards and create activities that must be completed before your content goes out to the world. This ensures that it is of good quality and ready to publish on your website right away.

9. WP Post Views

WP Post Views is an easy-to-use solution for tracking the number of views for each article on your website. Not only is it straightforward to use, but it’s also a great way to gauge which of your posts are the most popular.

10. Search Exclude

This plugin lets you choose which pages, posts, or other content to include in WordPress search results. Simply check the relevant box on the post/page edit screen. This is particularly beneficial if you have a lot of content but only want certain things to show up in search. The plugin also offers fast and large editing options for your convenience.

11. WordPress Ad Widget

Are you tired of having to manually manage advertising on your WordPress site? In that case, the WordPress Ad Widget plugin offers a simple solution. All you have to do is drag a widget to the sidebar, add an ad image, and save. No coding required, and no fussing with complicated settings.

12. Highlighting Code Block

Highlighting Code Block makes it simple to add a code block with syntax highlighting. It works with both the Block Editor and the Classic Editor.

13. CodeMirror Blocks

CodeMirror Blocks was created for coders to make it simple to display formatted code on your blog or website. It supports over 100 programming, scripting, and markup languages. Furthermore, there are 56 distinct themes to select from. CodeMirror makes an excellent tool for those who want to illustrate and teach code examples, whatever the reason.

14. Featured Image from URL

This plugin allows you to easily add featured images, videos, audios, and more from external sources. Simply paste the URL into the box and the plugin will take care of the rest. You can even choose to automatically resize or crop your images to fit your website’s design.

15. Smart Image Resize

Smart Image Resize is a WordPress plugin that automatically changes the size of your product images so they look more consistent and professional. You won’t need to waste time on manual image editing or resizing anymore.

16. Draw Attention: Interactive Image Map Plugin

Draw Attention is a simple-to-use plugin that allows you to create interactive image maps. Users can simply click/tap or hover over areas of your pictures to learn more about each area of the picture map. You may also display additional material or direct the user to another URL when they click or hover over your hotspot. This makes it an ideal method for generating interesting and informative photos.

17. Depicter Slider

The Depicter Slider Plugin is a fantastic image and video slider that works on all major platforms. It allows for touch navigation using only swipes, which is not a common feature. Consequently, this slider plugin is ideal for producing stunning and smooth presentations.

18. Flipbox

The Flipbox Plugin is a WordPress plugin that lets you add a box to your screen with various pieces of content inside. When people look at it, the box flips through its contents. It’s made up of two blocks: an Info Box and a Call to Action. On the surface, it appears to be a normal Info Box, but as visitors hover over it, they’ll see an amazing CSS3 animation and a Call to Action section urging them to take further steps.

19. Slim SEO

Here we have one of the lesser-known WordPress plugins for SEO. Slim SEO is perfect for businesses that want to achieve a high search engine ranking quickly. It provides a full SEO solution with auto configuration, meaning it generates things like meta titles and descriptions, an XML sitemap, and structured data with little to no input from you. The basic settings make it very user-friendly and installation does not require any technical knowledge.

20. Internal Link Juicer

The Internal Link Juicer Plugin is a great tool for improving your on-page SEO and UX. It helps by finding the right content to link to for the given context. This makes it much easier for your readers to find information and also helps improve your site’s search engine rankings.

21. WP Meta SEO

WP Meta SEO Plugin is another excellent tool to optimize your website for better search engine performance. It lets you bulk edit your content and image SEO, check on page content, manage 404s and redirects – all while saving time.

22. WP Blog Post Layouts

WP Blog Post Layouts Plugin is user-friendly and doesn’t require any coding knowledge. You can create layouts for your WordPress blog posts from a variety of options, including Masonry, Grid, and List. Moreover, you have full control over how your posts look – allowing you to create a professional-looking blog in mere minutes.

23. Simple Masonry Layout

This helpful plugin lets you create a masonry layout grid view of posts and custom post types with easy-to-use shortcodes.

24. Styles & Layouts for Gravity Forms

The Styles and Layouts for Gravity Forms Plugin is more than just a way to change how your forms look. It also uses the WordPress Customizer, which makes it easy to control various styling options and make changes in real time. If you’re using Gravity Forms and want to improve the style of your forms, this plugin is a great and lesser known option.

25. Rating-Widget: Star Review System

Our next contender adds a review system for posts, pages, comments, WooCommerce products, BuddyPress forums, and bbPress forums to your WordPress site. It also meets GDPR requirements.

26. Stratum – Elementor Widgets

If you’re looking to go all out with Elementor, Stratum is the plugin for you. With over 20 extensions available, it gives you enhanced widget functionality and automatic styling adjustments to match your current theme. Whether you want more customization or just want your sites to appear a little more polished, Stratum is a solid choice.

27. White Label – WordPress Custom Login Page

The White Label WordPress plugin provides agencies and freelancers the power to re-brand a client website with just a few clicks. For example, you can add your own logo, custom login page, and tailor the dashboard experience to match your brand. This is an easy way to make any website look like it was custom made by you – perfect for impressing clients and growing your business.

28. Ultimate Client Dash

With Ultimate Client Dash, you can create a custom client dashboard that is completely white labeled and tailored to your specific needs. You can also manage user capabilities, provide instructions and help files for your users, and much more. This makes it the perfect solution for WordPress developers and agencies who want to offer their clients a unique and customized experience.

Final Thoughts: Lesser-Known WordPress Plugins Can Move Your Website Forward

While these are only a few of the incredible lesser-known WordPress plugins available, each of them can have a significant impact on your website.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different plugins to find those that work best for you and your site. With so many awesome options available, there’s sure to be a plugin (or two, or three) that can take your WordPress site to the next level.

Did we miss your favorite WordPress plugin that doesn’t make the top-10 lists? If so, we’d love to hear about it. Feel free to share in the comments below!

The post Lesser-Known WordPress Plugins: 28 Hidden Gems to Check Out appeared first on Torque.

The good news is that there are a few popular and reliable GDPR plugins for WordPress that can help you meet the various requirements of the complex law. Once you understand the essential features that can help your website achieve GDPR compliance, you’ll be able to choose the best solution for your needs. 

In this article, we’ll discuss the importance of the GDPR and how a plugin can help your site remain compliant. Then we’ll review the features to look for in a GDPR plugin and discuss some of the best tools. Let’s jump in!

An Introduction to the GDPR

The GDPR is a data protection regulation in Europe that was adopted in 2018. It’s intended to help organizations:

• Protect the personal data of individuals
• Collect and process personal data while respecting the individual’s rights
• Adhere to principles of data minimization

Under the GDPR, personal data must be: 

• Legitimate and necessary for the purposes for which it is being processed
• Accurately and carefully collected
• Processed in a transparent, consistent, and fair manner
• Erased or destroyed where it is no longer needed or subject to regular monitoring

Organizations that process personal data must make their accurate and up-to-date contact information accessible to their users. They must also inform individuals of their rights under the GDPR, such as the right to access their personal data, request rectification of inaccurate data, object to the processing of their data, and exercise the right to be forgotten.

Why Use a GDPR Plugin for WordPress

A GDPR plugin is a WordPress add-on that helps website owners comply with the regulation requirements. Technically, not all websites need to comply with GDPR.

However, if you plan to collect any type of personal data from users (this even includes IP addresses!), then compliance is necessary. In other words, if you have a contact form, newsletter sign-up box, or payment gateway on your site, you’ll want to use a GDPR plugin. 

It’s also worth noting that GDPR compliance is vital if you process personal data from any individual in Europe. It doesn’t matter if you or your business is based outside Europe. GDPR compliance is still important and necessary if you have traffic coming from any European nation. 

Furthermore, failure to meet GDPR requirements can come with severe penalties, including hefty fines. Businesses can face fines up to 4% of their annual global revenue or pay €20 million (whichever is higher).

What to Look For in a GDPR WordPress Plugin

There are a variety of GDPR plugins for WordPress. However, to choose the best solution, it’s important to know what to look for. Let’s discuss some essential features and factors to consider!

Privacy Policy 

A privacy policy outlines a company’s commitment to protecting the personal information of its employees, customers, and clients. The document should specify the types of information that you will collect, how you will use it, and how you will protect it:

A privacy policy is required by law in most countries all over the world – with few exceptions. Some GDPR plugins include privacy policy tools that can effortlessly generate your privacy notice suited to your particular business activities. 

Cookie Notice 

Cookies are small pieces of data stored on a computer when a user visits a website. These cookies can remember certain information about the user, such as their preferences or login information. 

Cookies are important because they make websites more efficient and user-friendly. You can also use them to collect data about website visitors for marketing or advertising purposes. 

Sometimes, cookies may be required for a website to function correctly. However, users have the right to refuse cookies if they wish. 

If you use cookie scripts on your site (and you most likely do), you must obtain their consent before running cookies. You can do this through a cookie notice, which should be displayed prominently on your website upon the user’s first visit:

But wait! You’re not done yet. You must also block cookie scripts from running until you receive consent. Many GDPR plugins for WordPress only display a banner, but don’t allow you to block and reactivate scripts, so be careful when choosing. Also, make sure that your plugin includes the option to customize the cookie consent banner and include a link to your cookie policy. 

Ease of Use and Customization

As with any type of plugin, it’s helpful to find a tool that is easy to use and navigate. This is especially important if you’re a beginner. Fortunately, many GDPR plugins come with intuitive interfaces.

While many GDPR plugins include templates or auto-generated statements and policies, you’ll also want to look for customization options. These settings can help you modify the design of notice buttons. They can also adjust the wording and messaging of your privacy policy and cookie consent notifications. 

Pricing

When deciding on a GDPR plugin, pricing may be a top priority. You can find options ranging from completely free to a couple of hundred dollars per year. It all depends on what features and support you’re looking for.

However, there are also many freemium tools. Overall, it’s essential to find a plugin that includes flexible pricing. 

For example, you may want to start with a free plugin. Then, if you find it worth it, you can upgrade to a premium version to unlock even more features.  

3 Best GDPR Plugins for WordPress

Now that we understand GDPR and how a plugin can help you comply with regulations, let’s look at some of the best GDPR plugins for WordPress!

1. iubenda

If you’re looking for an affordable, all-in-one GDPR WordPress plugin, we recommend iubenda:

This powerful, feature-packed tool helps you keep track of user content as well as the legal policies on your site. It provides everything from privacy and cookie policies to terms and conditions, consent banners, consent analytics and consent record logs. 

Additionally, iubenda is incredibly easy to use. It streamlines GDPR compliance by scanning your site, automatically configuring the cookie banners, and blocking scripts according to your site’s specific needs. You can fully customize your cookie banners, manage cookie consent, and choose whether to apply the GDPR notices to users only in the EU or worldwide. 

Key iubenda features include:

• Simple, guided setup (including a site scanner)
• A privacy and cookie policy generator
• User location auto-detection
• Customizable cookie banner/CCPA notice
• Easy script-blocking and reactivation
• Bot detection and blocking
• Auto-updates when the law changes
• Available in nine languages

You can download and use iubenda for free. There are also premium plans available, starting at $29 per year.

2. GDPR Framework

Another popular GDPR plugin for WordPress is GDPR Framework:

This plugin by Data443 is a solid option for general GDPR compliance. You can use it to manage user consent, delete or use user data, withdraw consent, and generate a privacy policy statement. 

GDPR Framework can also be beneficial if you have an eCommerce website because it integrates with both WooCommerce and Easy Digital Downloads. 

Here are some of GDPR Framework’s top features:

• A privacy policy template
• A Privacy Safe Seal
• User consent management
• Support for popular WordPress form plugins
• Access to an installation wizard

The great part? This plugin is also free to use. 

3. WP AutoTerms

Rounding out our list of the best GDPR plugins for WordPress is WP AutoTerms:

This is an excellent tool for generating a range of legal pages for your site and staying GDPR compliant. In addition to a privacy policy generator, the plugin comes with several compliance kits to help you meet the various requirements of regulations. 

If you’re looking for a simple, straightforward GDPR compliance solution, WP AutoTerms may be more than what you need. You can use the free version for your privacy policy statement. 

However, if you want to create, customize, and display different types of legal documents on your site, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid version. For example, it can be ideal if you work with affiliates. 

WP AutoTerms includes:

• A privacy policy generator
• Compliance kits
• Terms of service and cookies policies
• An announcement bar
• The option to link to legal pages in your site’s footer
• The ability to generate affiliate disclaimers

WP AutoTerms is a freemium plugin. You can purchase a premium license for $39, covering up to two websites. 

Conclusion

When collecting user data on your website, whether payment information or contact details, it’s essential to meet GDPR requirements. Fortunately, a plugin can simplify the compliance process. 

As we discussed in this post, there are a handful of GDPR plugins for WordPress. If you’re looking for an affordable, all-in-one solution, we recommend iubenda. However, if you want a tool for other types of legal documents or affiliate marketing, GDPR Framework and WP AutoTerms are also worth checking out. 

Note: While software can go a long way, keep in mind that when it comes to the law, the best approach is always to consult with a lawyer if you can afford it.

Do you have any questions about GDPR plugins for WordPress? Let us know in the comments section below!

The post 3 Best GDPR Plugins for WordPress (And What to Look for) appeared first on Torque.

In its seventh year, this bracket-style competition pits the best plugins from around the community against each other.

VOTE HERE

You nominated over 300 plugins and we narrowed them down to an impressive lineup of 64 strong competitors. Voting starts Monday of each week and goes until we crown the winner. Plugins are sorted into four categories, Optimization, Maintenance, eCommerce, and Marketing. Each one is free and in the WordPress plugin repository.

This year the competition is even more fierce than it was before! We have form plugins, security plugins, translation plugins, and more. Help your favorites make it to the end, or find some you might not have heard of. This is a celebration of what makes WordPress great, so make sure to come back every week to support!

The voting schedule is as follows:

• March 7: Round 1
• March 14:  Round 2
• March 21: Round 3
• March 28: Round 4
• April 4: Semi-finals
• April 11: Championship
• April 18: Winner Announced!

Follow us on Twitter @thetorquemag and use #pluginmadness to show support for your favorites.

The post Plugin Madness Round Up appeared first on Torque.