Surreal WordPress Plugins and SEO Strategies

‘good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you happen to be hiding out there on the globe today! Coming to you LIVE from …'

 

Salutations and Some Reminders:

Welcome to Episode 638 – Surreal WordPress Plugins and SEO Strategies – We've got a couple of great in-depth plugins to cover for you, some recent news in both the WordPress World and the Tech World in general, and some awesome WordPress Tips!

Christmas is here! Get ready for the extreme chaos of the season – I learned last week that apparently CostCo has amazing amounts of traffic, even on Monday Mornings! It's insane! Asked a fella who worked there, and he just said this is normal – apparently everyone thinks that no-one will shop at CostCo so everyone flocks there for Xmas Gifts.

So keep that in mind – if you think nobody is shopping there, it is likely that everyone is shopping there – so maybe try the places where you think everyone is! Could work…
Stay warm and dry out there everyone!

 

A few reminders before we start the show today….

 

Reminders:

• Show starts at 12:30pm Pacific Time every other week on Monday! Join in for the pre-stream entertainment at about 12:15ish! You'll find the show notes on the home page of wppluginsatoz.com within 24(ish) hours after every show!
• This is a value for value show dear listeners, help us get some loven by hitting some like buttons, sharing an episode or two, or lovingly forcing your family members to listen to us by cranking our show way up! After all, you can't go wrong helping out the longest running WordPress Podcast!

Don't run away at the end either as we have some awesome Q&A coming up at the end! Sometimes they are questions specifically designed to help people new to the industry out, sometimes they are more intricate questions designed to help those with a little more experience out, or at least get people thinking. Worth checking out!

...When you see this in the notes, it means we didn't read this on the show. The only way to find this information out is to read our Show Notes!

…You can send any questions/suggestions or notes saying ‘hi' over to me at amber@wppro.ca, or hit up our site wpppluginsatoz.com/contact – Be creative with the title so that the spammer eater doesn't eat your note though!

 

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Let's start the show with this weeks Featured Artist:

Artist: 

Grok! You can check him and his artistic talents out by going here and following the directions.
You will wind up being re-routed to here, and although you are getting a sort of lame version you will at least be getting an idea of the real Grok!
The other option, and the best one really 'cause you will be able to get the full version of Grok, is to go to the X (formally Twitter) site and pay for premium for proper access to Grok.

We would love some new art from our Producers out there! If you are so inclined, you can send it into us at https://wppluginsatoz.com/artwork/. If you need some inspiration, you can always go to our site wppluginsatoz.com and check out our Art Vaults – you will find the link for it on the left hand side.

…We can NEVER have too much art!

 

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Breaking News in the WordPress World at large!! 

This is just a little taste of what will come out on Wednesday for everyone! Send anything in to me at amber@wppro.ca that you think should go into the Wed's N3W$ 4 Y0U!

News this week:

WordPress Vulnerability Report
(https://solidwp.com/blog/wordpress-vulnerability-report-november-20-2024/) – In this report there are 200 Plugin vulnerabilities; at this point 120 of them have been patched.

WordPress Vulnerability Report from PatchStack
(https://patchstack.com/database/) – These guys always have the latest information on what is going on regarding the latest in vulnerabilities. At the time of writing this, most recent issue was from 7 hours ago and is a cross script vulnerability in FluentForm.

Gutenberg's latest changelog: what's new in 19.5 and how it shapes your WordPress
(https://wplift.com/gutenbergs-latest-changelog-19-5/) – 19.5.0 is an improvement on the 19.4 via the greater stability that has been added to the existing features. Launched on Octover 23rd, 2024, this update also has new features of its own! It has a Write/Design Mode – which was previously known as ‘Edit/Select'; Custom Labels for Block Varients option; Comment & Query Block Previews that show up when you hover now; Smoother everything and major bug fixes! This update seems to be one of the better ones – would love to hear back from some listeners that use Gutenberg to know what you think about it!

BuddyPress Lead Developer Mathieu Viet Leaves WordPress Ecosystem
(https://wptavern.com/buddypress-lead-developer-mathieu-viet-leaves-wordpress-ecosystem) – Mathieu Viet has officially announced his departure from the WordPress community. He left a statement on his WordPress Profile stating: “I’ve decided to stop involving into the #WordPress community following the way WordPress leadership decided to prevent some users to benefit from WordPress.org API services just because they were customers of a specific hosting company.” He also left a statement on his Personal Website – I highly recommend you go and check it out.
Since the Automattic-WP Engine dispute started, several prominent contributors (Bjørn Johansen, Carrie Dils, Andy Fragen, & Chris Wiegman) have ceased their involvement with WordPress, and some have removed their plugins from the WordPress Respository as well.
This article from WP Shout dives deeper into the companies that have left and the why's. Worth checking out!
Perhaps the Exodus has truly begun…

WPShout follows the first hearing in the WP Engine v Automattic lawsuit so we don't have to
(https://wpshout.com/follow-first-hearing-in-the-wp-engine-v-automattic-lawsuit/) – This is a beautifully written article that is easy to follow and helps to explain some legalese that is floating around as best they can, and helps to break down what is actually going on, and how it may effect your site.
Another well written article is from WP Tavern and goes over the what went on as well.
All in all, it really just seems to me that they are just arguing in front of a judge now rather than online – after all nothing has been decided one way or another, both sides seem to have fairly well formed arguments although WP Engine sorta dropped the ball with a lack of specificity on their proposed injunction… although it's possible that there just may not have been a way to make it more specific.

Geminid meteor shower peaks this week: Here's what to expect from the last big meteor shower of the year
(https://www.space.com/stargazing/meteors-showers/geminid-meteor-shower-peaks-this-week-heres-what-to-expect-from-the-last-big-meteor-shower-of-the-year) – You can see this all over the world so long as the weather cooperates, and you are further away from city lights than usual.
It is possible to see up to 120 meteors per hour, although the moon is gonna be nearly full this year so that may interrupt the viewing.
Follow the link for a bit of a history on how this shower came to be and more information on the shower itself!

Some Extras – check out the N3W$ 4 Y0U coming out on Weds for more, or you can check out our Facebook or Twitter!

DreamHost removed from WordPress.org's recommended hosting page
(https://wptavern.com/dreamhost-removed-from-wordpress-orgs-recommended-hosting-page) – DreamHost has been removed without any explanation. Follow the link for more!

Mary Hubbard, new Executive Director of WordPress.org engages in Open Q&A with the community (and Matt Mullenweg)
(https://wpshout.com/mary-hubbards-qa/)

For those who were unaware of this going on around November 25:
Did WordPress.org just release the ‘forked' PRO version of ACF For Free?
(https://wpshout.com/forked-pro-version-of-acf-for-free/) – Yea, they did. Check out the article.

Bridging the gap: Hybrid themes
(https://developer.wordpress.org/news/2024/12/03/bridging-the-gap-hybrid-themes/)

How to add content-only editing support to a block
(https://developer.wordpress.org/news/2024/11/05/how-to-add-content-only-editing-support-to-a-block/)

WordPress.org releases new ‘Secure Custom Fields' plugin with ACF Pro features
(https://wptavern.com/wordpress-org-releases-new-secure-custom-fields-plugin-with-acf-pro-features)

Introducing WordPress.com's new hardened DDoS protection setting
(https://wordpress.com/blog/2024/12/03/ddos-protection/)

WordCamp Asia 2025 announces two scholarships for attendees
(https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-asia-2025-announces-two-scholarships-for-attendees)

WordCamp Asia seeks Host City Applications for 2026
(https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-asia-seeks-host-city-applications-for-2026)

WordCamp Europe 2025 is looking for Speakers and Sponsors
(https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-europe-2025-is-looking-for-speakers-and-sponsors)

ClickIT acquires UglyRobot's Infinite Uploads and Big File Uploads plugins
(https://wptavern.com/clikit-acquires-uglyrobots-infinite-uploads-and-big-file-uploads-plugins)

Gravatar introduces Free Domains and Bluesky Integration
(https://wptavern.com/gravatar-introduces-free-domains-and-bluesky-integration)

WordCamp Asia 2025 unveils official Wapuu Mascot Tahopuu
(https://wptavern.com/wordcamp-asia-2025-unveils-official-wapuu-mascot-tahopuu)

State of the Word 2024 to be livestreamed from Tokyo Node Hall on December 16
(https://wptavern.com/state-of-the-word-2024-to-be-livestreamed-from-tokyo-node-hall-on-december-16)

Rogues Corner News and Extras

Note to Hemdian this is the cookie plugin to avoid https://wordpress.org/plugins/cookie-notice/

There is a new WordPress repository of sorts
https://wphive.com/

They do things such as plugin comparisons
https://wphive.com/compare/plugins/elementor/vs/gutenberg/

Do you ever have a mystery plugin disabling if so this article may help with diagnosis of the issue.
https://logtivity.io/track-silently-disabled-plugins/

Have you had issues with Elementor paging or show more posts showing the same posts over and over well reach out to me I email you the fix. Until I finish the article discussing the issue and publishing my fix. Which is more of a workaround until Elementor solves it properly but it gets you going forward.

 

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Dragon Rating Time!

John's Plugin

SEO Repair Kit – SEO Content Monitoring, GSC Integration, Easy Content Tracker, Keyword Tracking, SEO Rank Tracking

https://wordpress.org/plugins/seo-repair-kit/

The Lowdown:

Looking for an easy, user-friendly SEO plugin?

SEO Repair Kit by TorontoDigits is a lightweight, secure, and fast plugin tailored to address various SEO challenges seamlessly. Designed for efficiency, this tool includes robust functionalities such as advanced link scanning, missing image alt text detection, URL redirection management, and customizable settings.
A key highlight of the plugin is its ‘KeyTrack' feature, which integrates with Google Search Console through the Google Site Kit plugin, a trusted WordPress plugin developed by Google. This ensures a secure and reliable configuration process for Search Console, giving users peace of mind when managing their website’s SEO through a Google-certified tool.
With its comprehensive suite of tools, SEO Repair Kit empowers users to enhance their website’s SEO effortlessly, tackling common issues like broken links, missing alt text, strategic URL redirection, and now keyword tracking. It ensures a well-optimized, secure, and streamlined online presence.

Rating 5 Dragons

 

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WordPress Tips

We would love to hear some tid bit tips from some of our producers out there – what did you figure out by breaking something? Or what did you need to learn in order to help someone? You can send these tid bits into me at amber@wppro.ca

 

My tip to you this week is regarding the all nighter thing.

So I have absolutely pulled my fair share of all nighters 'cause things kept me away from getting things done on time – however, as I am getting older I am realizing I can't pull an all nighter and be okay anymore.

Not even with consuming copious amounts of coffee – actually, that just gives me heart burn now. Which sucks.

So for those who are coming from a lifetime of pulling all nighters and doing 1-3 nights up in a row – try putting yourself to sleep a little earlier then you generally go to sleep, and waking up at stupid ‘O'clock instead. Like at 4 or 3 am.

You will likely be surprised by what you manage to get done!

And you will find it easier to do as you are getting older – I know I am certainly finding it easier. Although I do kinda miss staying up for 2-3 days at a time.. nothing looks as pretty as sleep depo shimmeries.?

Trust me though, go to sleep earlier and wake up at Stupid'O'Clock, and you will find it much easier to deal with.

Probably.

Worth a shot right?

 

…Some random entertainment in the World of WordPress!

…Matt's Famous Quotes
https://www.idrlabs.com/quotes/matt-mullenweg.php

…The hall of shame via Automattic:
transparency.automattic.com/tag/hall-of-shame/

 

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Amber's Plugin

Bulk Add Taxonemy

https://web321.co/our-plugins/bulk_taxonomy/

The Lowdown:

This is a plugin that was sent into us by a regular listener – and it's pretty awesome! You can expect me to cover some more of Shawn Dewolfe's work over the next little while!

Once you download and activate this – you will need to go to the site web321.co in order to get this plugin as it is not in the Repository – you will see it added into your plugin list, although there is no dashboard for this plugin.

Where you will see ‘Bulk Add Terms' is anywhere you can add taxonemies. I found the ‘Bulk Add Terms' in my ‘Posts' under ‘Categories', and in my ‘Elementor' under ‘Categories'.

The way to use this to it's fullest potential, is to take your list of categories you need to add, plop them all in, and hit ‘Add Terms'. If you already have one of the titles in existence, you will be informed by the message at the top you get after hitting ‘Add Terms'. For instance, if I were to try and add a list of 13 terms, and 2 of them already existed, It will say:
‘Terms added: 11. Terms skipped (already existed): 2.'

This is a super useful tool to have in the tool box – I dearly wish that I had had this in the past with a few of the sites I have built over the years… When you have a list of 30 or more categories you have to add… it gets repetitive. This also keeps you from creating any duplicates, which is very useful when your category numbers are getting up there!

Another cool thing about this is that it comes wrapped in translation functions, so you don't have to worry about localization into other languages!

This plugin plays well with others and it's beautifully lightweight! I like that it just pops up where you need it, no need to fiddle with the settings to tell it where to show up, no need to wonder if it will work – either you will see it pop up where it's needed or you won't. Simple as that!

Highly recommend you give this a go and see how it can help you out!

Rating: 5 Dragon

 

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Earn yourself a Producership Credit!

There are a lot of ways that you as our Producers can utilize us as your tool to help yourself out, and help us at the same time – get a producership credit, do an interview, donate some time to get your name up here, all kinds of things! You can look further into the Producership credits options by going to our site wppluginsatoz.com and clicking on Time, Talent, or Treasure in our main menu.

 

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Miscellaneous Announcements from all:

Have an announcement like a meetup, or to announce you'll be on stage at a WordCamp? Let us know and we will add it here and help get your news out to the world!

 

WordCamp Ahmedabad – January 3-4, 2025

WordCamp Kolhapur – January 11-12, 2025

WordCamp Kolkata – January 18, 2025

WordCamp Pune, India – Feburary 2, 2025

WordCamp Asia – February 20-22, 2025

To see the entire list you can follow the link here in the show notes, then click on ‘More WordCamps' right below the list of the next 5. https://central.wordcamp.org/

 

If you are interested in finding a WordPress Meetup somewhere around the world you can go check out the places here: https://www.meetup.com/pro/wordpress/

Keep checking back every week to find out what else is going on!

And remember, the show notes found at wppluginsatoz.com have a whole lot of extra information to grab up that we don't read on air so be sure to check them out!

 

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How to reach us:

Feel like sending us something through the snail mail system? You can do that thanks to our brick and mortar address that we provide for you!
You can also reach us the more common way of the internets – have both of our internets available down below for ya!

 

WP Plugins A to Z
C/O John Overall 
20-754 E Fairview Rd. 
Victoria, BC  V9A 5T9  
Canada

John:

• My website: http://www.johnoverall.com/  
• WordPress Emergency Support: http://wppro.ca/wpemergency
• email: john@wppro.ca

Amber:

• email: amber@wppro.ca

 

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Today's Plugins we covered were:

John’s Plugin:

SEO Repair Kit – SEO Content Monitoring, GSC Integration, Easy Content Tracker, Keyword Tracking, SEO Rank Tracking By TorontoDigits

• Lightweight and secure
• Includes variety of functions such as Link Scanning, Missing Image Alt Text Detenction, etc
• Includes KeyTrack Feature

Rating: 5 Dragons

 

Amber's Plugin: 

Bulk Add Taxonemy by Web321

• Direct Append
• Duplicate Check
• Transient Storage

Rating: 5 Dragon

 

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Q & A Time with Amber – Catch this info on our YouTube Channel

If you have questions you would like to have asked on the show, send them in to me at Amber@WPPro.ca – we may never stump my dad, but we can get some good conversation out of him at least!

• Can you explain in easy going simple terms what the difference is between a domain name and web hosting – and why a person needs both?

• What should a person be looking for in a web hosting provider if they are just starting out with WordPress?

Questions asked after closing credits:

• Can you list a 3 basic SEO things that someone could do themselves on their site to do from the beginning when building from scratch in order to help them down the road?

• When the site starts slowing down, what are some things to do to help it back to its previous speed?

 

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