Category: Development

Do Too Many WordPress Plugins Really Slow Down Your Website?

Class Object Oriented PHP

I’ve heard it over and over… “Too many plugins will slow down your website.”  I’ve heard it in conference presentations, networking events, podcasts, blogs, YouTube videos, and even my old boss.  But, is it really true?

I’m a professional WordPress developer and have written several of my own plugins, so I have something to add to the conversation.

Honestly, it really bugs me when people ignorantly demonize plugins as the culprit of all their WordPress website problems… as if the number of plugins is slowing down their website.

In this article, let’s look at the facts around the topic of WordPress plugins slowing down your website.

Continue reading Do Too Many WordPress Plugins Really Slow Down Your Website?

How to Install the Facebook Pixel on an AMP Website Using Google Tag Manager

Facebook Ads, Google Tag Manager, AMP

Are you working with a native AMP website or a website with AMP pages, but you need to integrate the Facebook Pixel?  To top it all off, you’re also using Google Tag Manager (because it’s awesome).  How to go about this?

Well, I’m here to help.  While this implementation is not documented very well, it’s actually very simple!

Continue reading How to Install the Facebook Pixel on an AMP Website Using Google Tag Manager

How to Insert Amazon Affiliate Ads into AMP Website

Amazon Affiliate AMP Ad

After redesigning my other blog’s theme using my own custom-built native AMP WordPress theme, I ran into one question that was hard get find an answer for…

How can I insert an Amazon Associates Affiliate Ad into my native AMP website?

Well, I eventually figured it out, and I’m here to share it with you.

Continue reading How to Insert Amazon Affiliate Ads into AMP Website

How to Remove a Hook from a Class-based WordPress Plugin

Class Object Oriented PHP

Are you trying to modify the functionality of a 3rd party plugin without actually editing the code of their plugin (which would result in losing your customization upon the next update)?  Having trouble with it because that plugin is object oriented or class-based?

I have run into this situation multiple times, and finally found a really good fix for it.

In this post, I’ll show you how to remove an action or filter hook from another plugin even though that plugin is class-based. Continue reading How to Remove a Hook from a Class-based WordPress Plugin

How to Get in WordPress if You’re Locked Out

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For whatever reason, you’ve found yourself locked out of your own site.  Without a user attached to your email address, you can’t even use the Forgot Password feature to get in.  But, you own the site, so surely there must be some way to get in.

Good news, there is!  Better news, it’s easy!

In this post, I’ll show you how to quickly gain access to your WordPress admin area by having access to either the files or the database. Continue reading How to Get in WordPress if You’re Locked Out

How to Update an ACF Field Name Without Losing the Data

Advanced Custom Fields (ACF)

Are you using ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) and have the need to change the field name, but then you discover that it makes all the data disappear?

Since ACF uses the field name as the meta key to save and retrieve data, it makes it seem impossible to change.  You may consider changing only the label and leaving the field name alone.

However, in some cases, changing the name is needed.  If you’re in that boat, I’ve got good news.  It is possible to migrate all your post meta data to the new meta key.

In this post, I’ll show you exactly how to run a couple SQL statements on your database to migrate all the post meta data from the old key to the new key. Continue reading How to Update an ACF Field Name Without Losing the Data

Automatic Social Menu SCSS Styling with FontAwesome Icons

WordPress Website Planning

Do you hate dealing with styling social media icons in a WordPress theme?  Wish there was a seamless way to manage social links using the WordPress menu without having to use CSS classes?

This is a very interesting way to set the FontAwesome icons for social menu items automatically by selecting the elements using a wildcard href attribute search.

Continue reading Automatic Social Menu SCSS Styling with FontAwesome Icons

How to Make Your Own Opt-in Popup with Foundation Reveal Modal

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Are you working on a WordPress theme that uses Zurb Foundation framework?  Would you like to implement your own lead / opt-in popup using Foundation’s Reveal component?

The one I built even waits until you visit a 2nd page, and on that 2nd page, it waits 10 seconds before popping up. Continue reading How to Make Your Own Opt-in Popup with Foundation Reveal Modal

Set the Value of a Select Dropdown Using Its Options’ Text Labels

Code

Ever run into the problem where you have a string, and you need set the value of a select dropdown to that string, but the string you have may not match any of the option values, but instead might match the label of an option?

I ran into that and devised this nice solution that worked out very well. Continue reading Set the Value of a Select Dropdown Using Its Options’ Text Labels

List of US States for Select Dropdown Field in ACF

ACF State Field Select Dropdown Options

If you’re using ACF (Advanced Custom Fields) and want a dropdown list of US states, then look no further.

Simply copy and paste this into the list of options in your ACF select field.

Continue reading List of US States for Select Dropdown Field in ACF