{"id":144426,"date":"2015-08-12T12:30:40","date_gmt":"2015-08-12T16:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/premium.wpmudev.org\/blog\/?p=144426"},"modified":"2017-05-25T07:40:32","modified_gmt":"2017-05-25T07:40:32","slug":"annoying-wordpress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmudev.com\/blog\/annoying-wordpress\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Fix the 10 Most Annoying Things About WordPress"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite being the world\u2019s most popular blogging platform, WordPress still has its fair share of problems that are beyond irritating to deal with \u2013 especially if you can\u2019t figure out what\u00a0caused\u00a0them in the first place.<\/h2>\n

Whether you\u2019re a WordPress newbie or an advanced user with several years of experience, you\u2019re bound to run into problems from time to time. Almost anyone can get by with using WordPress on an extremely basic level \u2013 and many people certainly do \u2013 but when you start to get serious about customizing your site, lots of little things can easily get in the way and begin\u00a0to cause trouble.<\/p>\n

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The number of problems you might encounter while working with WordPress is truly limitless, but here are ten\u00a0issues that most users\u00a0have\u00a0probably encountered\u00a0at least once or twice, along with the solutions required to fix them!<\/p>\n

Plugins That Conflict With One Another<\/h3>\n

Plugins can be both\u00a0a blessing and a curse. All it takes is for one plugin to start causing serious problems with another, and it can cause all sorts of problems with your site.<\/p>\n

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\"Deactivate
Deactivate each of you plugins one at a time and you’ll soon find the culprit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

If you didn\u2019t create a backup of all the plugins you installed and you updated them all at the same time, you\u2019ll have to do some detective work to see which specific one is responsible for the conflict.<\/p>\n

Depending on the problem and the amount of plugins you have, this can be pretty time consuming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n

Start by deactivating all of your plugins except the one that\u2019s experiencing problems. Then reactivate each plugin one by one<\/strong>, checking the state of your site between each\u00a0to see if it’s that\u00a0one causing the conflict.<\/p>\n

When you identify the plugin that’s causing the conflict, you\u2019ll either have to get rid of it, find a similar plugin to replace it, or possibly try to find a previous version\u00a0(if updating it has caused the issue). You can also search for solutions from users who\u2019ve experienced similar problems if the developer of the plugin has a support page or community forum.<\/p>\n

Someone Using the Admin Username and Login Page to Hack Your Site<\/h3>\n

When a WordPress site is first set up, it typically sets your username to admin and enables you to log in at http:\/\/sitename.com\/wp-login.php<\/em>. All a hacker needs to do is head over to your login page, which is obvious and easy for them to find, so they can\u00a0start guessing your password either manually or by using\u00a0software.<\/p>\n

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\"Go
Go on, delete it!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

To prevent those nasty hackers from getting in so easily, you should go ahead and create another user by navigating to Users > Add New<\/strong> from your WordPress admin area. Fill in the information, and under Role<\/strong> make sure you set it to Administrator<\/strong>. Remember to use a completely different email address from the original admin user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n

Now you have a brand new administrator and you can delete the original one. To do that, log out and log back in with your new user credentials. Go to Users > All Users<\/strong> and hover your mouse over the original admin user to click on the Delete<\/strong> link that pops up. You can then choose to delete all of their content (if any was posted) or have it attributed to your new account before you confirm deletion.<\/p>\n

Constant Updates for Plugins, Themes, and WordPress Versions<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s almost as if every time you log in, something needs to be updated. If you have a lot of plugins installed or use a popular theme, those updates may be more frequent.<\/p>\n

Obviously, updates are released for a reason, and you should stay on top of them if you want to keep your site as secure as possible. One way to do that is to schedule time\u00a0every week, or at least every month, to update all the plugins, themes, and WordPress versions that require updating as part of your regular WordPress maintenance tasks.<\/p>\n

You could also take advantage of one of the many plugins available for this type of problem\u00a0if you take backups regularly and you\u2019re fine with the risks of automatic updating.<\/p>\n

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\"Try
Try out the WP Updates Setting plugin for free.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The WP Updates Settings plugin<\/a> enables\u00a0you to set major automatic core background updates, minor automatic core background updates, plugin updates, and theme updates.<\/p>\n

Spam Comments That Get Out Of Control<\/h3>\n

If you have a WordPress site, chances are you\u2019ve had to deal with spam comments. Your site can be brand new without any traffic at all, and somehow, spam will find a way to start infiltrating your comments section. To combat this, there are a variety of measures you can take.<\/p>\n

Moderate comments:<\/strong> In your WordPress admin, head over to Settings > Discussion<\/strong> and use the Before a comment appears<\/strong> options to hold back spammy comments for you to moderate first. You can also hold comments that contain a certain number of links or include specific words. Add words to your Blacklist section to keep specific spam comments out.<\/p>\n

Close comments on old posts:<\/strong> In the Discussion<\/strong> area there\u2019s a checkbox option labeled \u201cAutomatically close comments on articles older than X days\u201d, found in the Other comment settings<\/strong>. Customize it as you see fit.<\/p>\n

Use anti-spam plugins:<\/strong> There are loads of great plugins out there that can make your comment moderation tasks a heck of a lot easier. Check out this list of 10 Plugins That Take the Pain Out of Managing WordPress Comments<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The White Screen of Death<\/h3>\n

It\u2019s quite common to be working in WordPress, only to experience a blank page after installing something new or making some sort of change. If you\u2019re lucky, sometimes you can take a step back (if you can still access your WordPress admin) and undo\u00a0whatever\u00a0caused\u00a0the white screen of death<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It often stems from a plugin or a theme. If you\u2019re certain it\u2019s from a theme or plugin, but can\u2019t access your WordPress admin, you can do some troubleshooting via FTP.<\/p>\n

After making sure you have a backup of your site, navigate to the appropriate directory and delete or simply rename the plugin or theme you know caused the problem. That may (or may not) be all you need to do to fix it.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not sure what\u2019s giving you the white screen of death, you\u2019ll need to dig around a bit deeper. Follow the steps outlined in this article, Troubleshooting White Screen of Death Errors in WordPress<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Getting Locked Out of WordPress When the Password Reset Doesn\u2019t Work<\/h3>\n

When you forget your login password and try to reset it, sometimes WordPress just doesn\u2019t cooperate. It\u2019s a fairly common issue.<\/p>\n

The good news is that you’re not locked out for good, and you can reset your password from phpMyAdmin. You\u2019ll need your site\u2019s database name, so if you\u2019re not sure what that might be, you can find it in your wp-config.php<\/em> file by accessing it via FTP. Whatever comes after \u2018DB_NAME\u2019 is the name of your database.<\/p>\n

From your cPanel, access phpMyAdmin and click the appropriate database name from the left. From the list of tables that appear, click on wp_users<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"phpMyAdmin <\/div>\n

After that, click on the pencil icon to the right of user_login<\/strong> to start resetting your password.<\/p>\n

\"phpMyAdmin <\/div>\n

A new set of fields will appear, and the one you\u2019ll need to edit is the user_pass Value<\/strong>. It\u2019s a bunch of random letters, numbers, and symbols. The reason why you see these random characters is because WordPress stores them as MD5 Hash for security purposes, so you\u2019ll have to convert your new password to MD5 Hash too.<\/p>\n

\"phpMyAdmin <\/div>\n

You can use this free tool<\/a> to automatically convert your password to MD5 Hash. Simply type your new password (in plain text) into the Input field, press the MD5 button, and then copy the characters you get in the Result field. Go back to phpMyAdmin to paste it into your user_pass Value field.<\/p>\n

Click go<\/strong> at the bottom to save everything and you\u2019re done. Remember to keep your password in a safe place so you don\u2019t forget it again!<\/p>\n

Slow Loading Images<\/h3>\n

The internet is all about visual content these days. And with so many amazing WordPress themes now available that put your images front and center, it\u2019s kind of a bummer when they don\u2019t load right away or end up slowing your whole site right down.<\/p>\n

The real key is to optimize all your images before you upload them to WordPress. Yes, it takes some extra time, but it will be worth it if it means your site and images will load faster. There are at least three things you should be doing:<\/p>\n