4 Best Free Security Plugins for WordPress

by | Plugins, Wordpress

Today, I will share to you the 4 best security plugins for WordPress that I have used personally so far. I say best because I personally tried them and have seen them to be the most helpful and had the least problems after years of used.

security plugin

I have tried other security plugins. Some are really great like Sucuri, but it’s not free. So if you are on a tight budget, then this very short list is for you because they are free and they can do the job.

Akismet – I first used Akismet about 10 years ago. It was created by Matt Mullenweg, the creator of WordPress itself. The plugin first came out in 2005. After more than 10 years, this comment spam filtering plugin became one of the most reliable plugins in what it does.

The main advantage of this plugin is that it was made by the creator of WordPress, and is maintained by Automattic. So, we are pretty sure that this plugin will work well with WordPress.

Also Check: WordPress Optimization Secrets

Akismet is free for personal blogs. You only pay when your site is a commercial one or for business.

Jetpack – This plugin had made a huge leap over the years. I have become aware of the existence of this plugin when I was still new in WordPress. I used this in several of my sites, and it has become a giant security plugin since then.

This plugin contains the necessary security features for free. But if you want to enjoy some serious security features, then you should get the premium version.

Jetpack protects your site from brute force attack, spams, and malwares. It also has an auto-backup features, and performance enhancement features.  

Wordfence – Wordfence is the BEST security plugin that I have tried so far. It includes endpoint firewall and malware scanner. The free version is already a big help to your site. It is a light plugin, but heavy in security.

I would say that this is a MUST to install to your website. The downside of this plugin is that the premium version is quite expensive. If you have funding and do want to have a serious security, then this plugin is a good one.

Bulletproof Security – This plugin probably has the most important security features in this list. It has malware scanner, firewall, login security, anti-spam, etc. And guess what, these essential security features come in free version. I love this plugin. This really has a heavy security feature.

The only downside that this plugin has is that it is heavy on the server side. This works best if you do have a good hosting account. If you have a slow shared hosting, you may want to think twice before installing this one.

So what should I install?

It depends on your need. If you are only for blogging, Akismet is a good spam-filtering security plugin. I haven’t seen an equal so far with this one. However, it is limited to spam-filtering. So apart from Akismet, I will use Wordfence too.

Also Check: WordPress Optimization Secrets

If your site is huge, then I suggest you use Jetpack. And if you can, upgrade it to premium to make the most out of it.

If your site is both blogging and a huge site, and granted you have a good server, use Bulletproof Security.

So there you have it, the best free security plugins for WordPress.

How to Fix Internal Server Error After Upgrading the Plugins

by | Plugins

There are several causes of Internal Server Error. This troubleshooting tutorial is about the Internal Server Error that you get after upgrading plugins or activating one.

Here’s the simple step by step instructions:

  1. You will need access to your FTP or Cpanel.
  2. When accessing your WordPress website files, go to your site directory and locate the plugins folder, then rename it. Adding a single character is already enough to rename that folder and will cause all the plugins to be automatically deactivated. Then refresh your website.
  3. Once you get access again to your website, go ahead and re-edit the plugins folder and put it to its original name.
  4. Activate the plugins one by one until you get the internal server error with that plugin. Once you get the error, return to your directory and rename that folder of that particular plugin to deactivate it. Then refresh again your website so that you can get your live website back. Then go back again to that plugin folder in your directory and put back its original name again.
  5. You have the option now to either delete the plugin, or retain it as deactivated, or ask the plugin author for the bug solution.

If you find it hard to work on this type of tasks, you can try check out my one time service. And if we are not able to solve your problem, you then get the full refund.

How to Fix When FB Page Plugin Appears Half

by | Plugins

One day while browsing on the websites we are maintaining, I saw that FB Page Plugin only shows half. So there must be something that is causing it. In my investigation, it turns out that Simple Share Buttons Adder is the culprit.

So here’s how to implement a simple fix:

1. Go to the Settings>>Simple Share Buttons.

2. Then go to CSS tab >> Additional

3. Add the code:

.fb_iframe_widget span { width: 300px !important; };

4. Click the Save icon

How to Resize the Text Area of Contact Form 7

by | Plugins

Resizing text area (message area) of Contact Form 7 can be managed in 2 ways. If your only problem is how to fit the size when you put contact form in the footer, just add “x1” or “x2” to make the message text area to be 1 liner or 2.

Resize Area of Contact Form 7

The other solution is to get your hands dirty by customizing the CSS form. There are several ways to implement this, depending on your theme. But here’s the most common implementation:

/*added to widen contact form 7 text field*/
textarea {
height: 250px;
width: 500px;
}

Again, there are still some other ways to do it. Other coder uses class or id to implement this. Do you have any problem with your Contact Fomr 7? Post a message below or send us a question.