Today, we’ll look into the different types of database backups, and we’ll see some of the most popular techniques for creating and restoring a safe copy of your website’s data.

Types of MySQL Backups

MySQL is a relational database management system. The information is stored in tables, with relations between the different datasets. In effect, these relations build the structure of the database.

A working backup of a database must be able to recreate the tables and the relations between them in the way they are originally organized. Otherwise, your website wouldn’t work.

There are two main types of database backups in MySQL:

Logical backups

A logical backup exports (or dumps) the data and the data structure to an SQL file. The SQL file itself contains the SQL statements (e.g., CREATE DATABASE, CREATE TABLE, etc.) required to rebuild the database. Because SQL statements tend to be universal, logical backups are often used to move databases from one host to another.

Physical backups

A physical backup is a copy of the database’s datadir directory. All the tables and the data inside them are copied in their original file formats and can be restored in a fully functioning database as long as the structure is maintained. 

Physical backups are quicker but can only work if they are restored from the same database engine on the same MySQL version. Hence, they aren’t always suitable for moving a database from one environment to another.

Your backup strategy should be determined by a number of different factors including the hosting setup, the size of the database, and your needs.

Logical backups tend to be more common because, as we’ll find out in a minute, tools that can create them are usually readily available. Furthermore, logical backups can copy portions of the database, giving you more flexibility and a quicker resolution when you’re dealing with data corruption problems in specific parts of the database.

Overall, while physical backups do make sense in a few specific scenarios, for the regular website owner, logical ones are easier to set up and manage. That’s why today’s article will focus on them.

Creating a Database Backup via the Command Line

If you use the command line, you’ll export MySQL databases with the mysqldump utility. The lack of a graphical user interface means many will likely prefer one of the other methods. However, if you decide to give it a go, you’ll see that there’s nothing too complicated about the process.

Your first job is to access your hosting account via SSH. Modern operating systems support the protocol out of the box. Windows computers connect to remote servers via PowerShell or the Command prompt tool, and Unix-based systems do it with the Terminal.

Some people prefer dedicated SSH clients like PuTTY, and if you have an SPanel server, you can open a shell directly via the SSH Terminal available on the homepage of the User Interface.

Before you continue, make sure you have access to a MySQL user account with privileges over the database you’re about to back up. If you have access to root or any other account with SYSTEM_USER permissions, you can export data from any database you want.

It is worth mentioning that mysqldump won’t be able to back up a database if one of the tables is corrupted. To make sure everything will go smoothly, you can use the mysqlcheck command-line utility to check for errors.

The command looks like this:

$ mysqlcheck [the database’s name] -u [your MySQL user’s username] -p

After you provide your user account’s password, mysqlcheck will scan all tables for data corruption. Ideally, the output will look like this:

To check all databases for errors, add the –all-databases option. Having scanned your databases for errors, you can proceed with the backup.

The mysqldump utility covers quite a few scenarios. Here are the most common ones:

Backing up a single database via the command line.

To back up one of the databases on your account, you need a command that looks like this:

$ mysqldump -u [your MySQL account’s username] -p [the name of the database] > [the name of the file you want to export the data to]

With the above command, the user test_user exports the database test_database to the file backup.sql. All you need to do is enter the user account’s password. If backup.sql doesn’t exist, MySQL will automatically create it.

Backing up specific tables from a selected database

The mysqldump utility can also back up specific tables only. Just add the name of the table after the database name. Here’s an example:

In the screenshot above, test_user is backing up the table wp_posts from test_database2 to the posts.sql file. To dump multiple tables to the same file, simply add their names separated by spaces. For example:

$ mysqldump -u test_user -p test_database2 wp_posts wp_options wp_users wp_links > wordpress.sql

Backing up multiple databases

You can export multiple databases to the same SQL file with mysqldump. To do that, use the command above, adding the –databases option and the names of the databases separated by spaces. For example:

$ mysqldump -u test_user -p –databases test_database test_database2 test_database3 > backup.sql

Backing up all accessible databases

If you want to back up all the databases you have access to, replace the database name with the –all-databases option. For example:

This will dump all databases except information_schema, performance_schema and any other default MySQL schemas. To include them in the backup, add the — skip-lock-tables option.

Backing up a database structure only

Sometimes, you may need to generate a backup of a database’s structure without the data stored in it. The mysqldump utility can do it if you include the –no-data option. Here’s what the command looks like:

Backing up the data without the structure

The reverse is also possible – you can backup the data without the structure. The option is –no-create-info, and the command looks like this:

The mysqldump utility won’t print a message telling you that it has successfully backed up your database, so you can use the ls command to confirm that the SQL file has been created.

Dumping a large database with mysqldump

Using mysqldump on larger databases could be trickier. If you have lots of GBs to back up, you may experience increased server load, and if the database is really big, the entire operation could fail.

The first problem is the amount of storage space the SQL file takes up. Large databases produce large backups, but the good news is that you can pipe mysqldump’s output through gzip and compress the SQL file before writing it on the disk.

The command will looks like this:

$ mysqldump -u [your mysql account’s username] -p [your database’s name] | gzip > [filename].sql.gz

On the one hand, this reduces the size of the generated backup, and on the other, it cuts the IO load.

The mysqldump utility has a couple of other options that may also help. The –opt option encompasses several different command parameters that optimize the dump operation. Bear in mind that they make the backup more difficult to understand by other database systems, so this may not be the best approach if you want to migrate the database to a new host.

The –quick option may also work. By default, mysqldump stores each table row into memory before dumping it into the SQL file. with the –quick option, the data is transferred directly to the backup.

If a large backup operation fails, you can try to increase the max_allowed_packet parameter in MySQL’s configuration file (the my.cnf file usually stored in /etc). This is usually necessary only when you’re trying to shift dozens of gigabytes of information, and it’s not guaranteed to succeed.

Backing up that much data with mysqldump is never going to be easy, and many experts suggest that in such cases, you’re better off using a physical backup solution like MySQL Enterprise Backup or Percona XtraBackup.

Creating a Database Backup With phpMyAdmin

Many shared and managed hosting accounts come with phpMyAdmin preinstalled. Its default login URL is https://[your server’s IP]/phpmyadmin (some hosts change it for security reasons), though it’s often accessible from the control panel, as well.

It has an easy-to-use graphic interface, meaning you don’t need to learn any new commands to manage your database. You can also export data to an SQL file with a few mouse clicks. Here’s how to do it.

Backing up a single database

After you open phpMyAdmin, you’ll see a list of all the databases on your hosting account.

Click on the one you want to back up and go to the Export tab.

You can choose the export method and the format. It’s preferable to keep the SQL format, as this will give you more options when you need to restore the database.

As for the method, Quick is selected by default, and if you leave it like that, phpMyAdmin will dump the entire database (the data and the structure) into the SQL file.

If you select the Custom radio button, you’ll see quite a few more options. First, you can select which tables you’d like to dump. You can back up the structure, the data, or both.

Further down, you can have phpMyAdmin automatically rename the database, its tables, and/or columns while exporting them. This is where you specify the filename template as well. By default, it’s set to “@DATABASE@” which means that phpMyAdmin will name the SQL file after your database.

You can lock the database’s tables or export them as separate files. Options for the exported file’s encoding and compression are also available in this section. You can skip tables over a certain size and see the output as text instead of dumping it into an SQL file.

In the Format-specific options section, you decide whether to have comments metadata, and other formatting elements in your SQL file. You can have phpMyAdmin export the database as a transaction, disable foreign key checks, and dump views as tables.

There’s also a drop-down menu letting you make the backup backwards compatible with a number of older systems.

Next, you have the Object creation options section. It mainly deals with the statements that will be added to the SQL file, and they concern the way the SQL file will rebuild the database.

For example, the CREATE DATABASE and USE statements can save you some time when you need to restore the data to a new empty database. If, on the other hand, you plan on restoring the data into an existing database, you can have the DROP statements overwrite the old data.

If the IF NOT EXISTS option is enabled, your backup will check for matching tables before trying to create them, and with the AUTO_INCREMENT checkbox, you can append the backed up data to existing tables.

In the Data creation options section, you’ll find more settings related to the way your data will be restored. There are a few advanced options that may require a tweak in certain cases. However, for most website owners, the default configuration should work fine.

After you’re done tweaking the settings, click Go to generate the SQL file.

Backing up multiple databases

The steps for backing up multiple databases is pretty much the same as those for dumping a single one. The difference is, instead of selecting a database from the menu on the left, you need to go straight to the Export tab from the homepage.

If you’d like to back up all your databases at once, set the export method to Quick and the format to SQL, and click Go to have phpMyAdmin generate the backup. If you select the Custom method, you can pick which databases to backup. Click Unselect all and us the mark those you want to back up using the Ctrl/Cmd key.

Further down, in the Format-specific options section, you can decide whether to dump the data from the selected databases, their structure only, or both.

The rest of the settings are the same as the ones you see when you’re exporting a single database.

Creating a Database Backup With MySQL Workbench

MySQL Workbench is another free database management tool. You can set it up on your home computer and control your databases remotely.

You’ll first need to connect to your hosting account. There’s a + button in the MySQL Connections section on the homepage.

The dialog asks you for the type and details of the connection. The best option is to connect to your server using the standard TCP/IP protocol over SSH. This way, the communication will be encrypted, and your data will be safe.

You’ll have to provide the SSH login credentials as well as the ones for your MySQL user account. After you fill in all the required fields, click Test Connection to ensure everything works. If it does, hit OK to save the connection.

After you connect to the server, open the Administration tab in the Navigator section and click Data Export.

In the next window, you’ll see the databases your user has access to and the different export options. 

You can select the databases you want to with the using the checkboxes next to them. And when you click on a database, you’ll see all its tables, so you can exclude specific tables from the backup.

Below the lists of databases and tables, you have a drop-down menu letting you decide whether you want to back up the database, the structure, or both. When you’re ready with the configuration, click Start Export.

Creating a Database Backup With SPanel

SPanel strives to cover every aspect of modern website building and development. This includes database management, which is why every SPanel server comes with phpMyAdmin preinstalled.

However, we wanted to ensure you have even more control over your site’s data, which is why, you have quite a few tools in the MySQL Databases section inside SPanel’s User Interface.

To access the User Interface, you can either use the account’s login credentials at https://[the account’s domain name]/spanel/ or log in to your server’s Admin Area and select Manage from the Actions drop-down menu next to your account.

Once you access the MySQL Databases section, you’ll see a list of all the databases on your account. Locate the one you want to back up, open the Actions drop-down menu, and select Export & Download Database.

SPanel will put the data into an SQL file and save it inside the account’s home directory. Then, a popup lets you download the file for local storage and remove it from the server.

As you can see, backing up the database before making any changes to your site is a matter of a couple of clicks. Even if you forget to do it, however, SPanel still has you covered.

Every SPanel customer at ScalaHosting gets daily backups of all the files and databases on their server. The backups are stored in a remote location. They’re not in the same data center as your production site, so even in case of an accident, you have a much better chance of restoring the data.

Speaking of restoring data, let’s see what you need to do to rebuild a broken database from a backup.

Restoring a MySQL Database

Once again, you have several methods to choose from, and which one you’ll pick depends on many things, including your hosting platform, your technical skills, and your needs.

Restoring a database via the command line

To restore a database from the command line, you first need to upload the backup file to your hosting account. The easiest way is via an FTP client or from your control panel’s File Manager.

You can place the SQL file in any folder you want, but to keep the commands simple, it’s probably best to save it in the home directory. After you restore the database, you can delete the backup file to free up space.

Next, create a new empty database and a MySQL user account with access to it. You can also use an account with SYSTEM_USER privileges.

Connect to your hosting account via SSH and enter the following command:

$ mysql -u [your user account’s username] -p [the name of the database] < [the name of the backup file]

In the above example, user account test_user is restoring data into database test_database2 from the file backup.sql.

Restoring a database with phpMyAdmin

You can use phpMyAdmin’s import feature to restore databases from SQL files. You need to remember that there’s often a limit on how big the SQL file can be, so if you have a larger database, you’ll probably need to use one of the other methods.

To import data into an existing database, open phpMyAdmin and select the database you want to restore from the menu on the left. If the database doesn’t exist, you’ll need to create it first.

Go to the Import tab, click Choose File, and select the SQL backup from your computer.

The most important option on this screen is the Format drop-down. You have to ensure it’s set to SQL. The default configuration will likely work fine for most website owners. Click Go to import the data into the database.

Restoring a database with MySQL Workbench

Like the other utilities we’re discussing today, MySQL Workbench has both export and import capabilities. To restore a database, launch MySQL Workbench and open a connection to your server. In the Navigator section, select the Administration tab and click Data Import/Restore.

Click the Import from Self-Contained File radio button, and select the SQL backup file from your computer.

Finally, click Start Import to restore the database.

Restoring a database with SPanel

If you have an SPanel server, you can restore your database from an SQL backup file using any of the methods we’ve described so far. However, you can also retrieve the data from one of the automatic daily backups SPanel generates.

When setting up your new SPanel server at ScalaHosting, you can choose how many backups you want to have stored at any given time. By default, you have a daily backup that is kept for 24 hours. However, we also have three- and seven-day options.

The backups are accessible via the Restore backup section on the homepage of SPanel’s User Interface.

First, choose the date of the backup you want to restore and click Browse Databases to see the databases backed up on the selected day.

Find the database you need and open the Restore drop-down menu.

You have three options:

• Download an SQL file with a backup of the database.
• Restore the original database.
• Restore the data in another database. SPanel will open a dialog requesting the name of the database you’d like to use. You can restore the data in an existing database or enter the name of a new one. SPanel will automatically set it up for you.

Potential Problems While Trying to Backup a MySQL Database

The export process can fail and result in an error for a couple of different reasons. Luckily, troubleshooting the problem is usually pretty straightforward. Let’s have a look at some of them.

 The MySQL Service isn’t working

First, you need to make sure the MySQL server is running on your hosting account. You can do it over SSH with the following command:

$ service mysql status

If you use SPanel, you can also check whether MySQL is running from the Admin Interface. The list of essential service is available in the Server Status menu, and if the MariaDB Database Server is down for some reason, you can bring it back online from the Restart Service section.

There are corrupted tables in your database

As we mentioned already, you can use the mysqlcheck command-line utility to see whether there are any corrupted tables in your database. It can also fix errors in case it fails because of a broken row or table.

All you need is the -r option:

$ mysqlcheck [the database’s name] -u [the user account’s username] -p -r

Errors can also be addressed via phpMyAdmin and SPanel.

In phpMyAdmin, pick the database from the menu on the left, and you will be redirected straight to the Structure tab, where you’ll see a list of all the database’s tables. Use the checkboxes next to the tables you want to repair (if you’re not sure where the errors are, you can use the Check all option at the bottom) and pick Repair table from the With selected menu.

With SPanel, the process is even simpler. Log in to the account’s User Interface and go to MySQL Databases. Scroll down to the list of databases, find the one you want and open the Actions drop-down menu next to it. After you select Repair database, SPanel will locate and fix any errors that might be present in the database’s tables.

Not enough disk space

The backup is generated on the server, so it inevitably takes up some storage space. If you exceed your account’s capacity while you’re backing up the database, the process will fail.

Your first option is to pipe the backup through gzip. This will reduce its size and may be enough to let you retrieve the SQL file in an archive. However, you should also think about deleting any unnecessary information from your account, optimizing your database, and possibly upgrading your account, so you can have more storage space.

Most likely, your project uses it as well, and you may have not one but multiple MySQL databases on your hosting account.

But what do you need to do if you want to get rid of one of them?

Let’s look at the different options.

Deleting a MySQL Database Through the Command-Line Interface

The traditional way to delete MySQL databases is via the command line.

Those of you with less experience may be a bit intimidated by the prospect of using commands, but the truth is, if you approach the task meticulously, you’ll see that there’s little to go wrong.

Deleting a MySQL database involves several steps, which we’ll now go into.

1. Log in to your hosting account via SSH.

There are several options for establishing an SSH connection.

You can use your operating system’s command-line tool. If you use Windows, you can choose between Command Prompt or PowerShell, and if you’re on a Unix-based OS, you have the default Terminal as well as a number of third-party applications with the same functionality.

The command for starting an SSH session looks like this:

ssh [your account’s username]@[your server’s IP]

If the server uses a custom SSH port (the default one is port 22), you need to add -p followed by the port number.

After successful authentication, the server will start the session.

A second option would be an SSH client application like PuTTY. Although native SSH support is now available on all operating systems, some people continue to prefer dedicated clients because of the additional features and the ability to easily access saved sessions.

If you use SPanel, you have a third option. You can log in to the User Interface and open the SSH Terminal. SPanel will automatically redirect you to the command-line interface and open a shell.

2. Log in to the MySQL server.

You need to use a user account with sufficient privileges to delete a database. If you have an account with SYSTEM_USER privileges (like the root account, for example), you can delete any database you want. Other accounts may have access to specific databases only.

Whatever the case, you’ll need the following command to log in to the MySQL server:

mysql -u [the MySQL user’s username] -p

After providing the user account’s password, you’ll see the mysql> prompt.

3. Identify the database you want to delete.

From now on, we’ll use SQL commands. Generally speaking, the syntax, especially for simple tasks like deleting a database, isn’t that complicated. However, there are a few things that may catch newbies out.

First, it’s accepted that SQL statements must be written in uppercase letters for readability purposes. Mind you, this is more of a guidance than a rule. The commands will work even if you don’t stick to it.

What you do need to remember, however, is that all SQL commands end with a semicolon. Without it, MySQL interprets the Enter key as a new line.

Deleting a database via the command line is irreversible, so before you go on, you want to make sure you erase the correct one. That’s why it might not be a bad idea to go through the list of existing databases on the account and ensure you get the name right.

To see all databases, use the following command:

SHOW DATABASES;

MySQL will display a list of your user account’s databases.

Locate the database you want to delete and make sure you memorize its name.

4. Delete the database.

A single command deletes the database. It looks like this:

DROP DATABASE [the name of the database];

There’s no “Are you sure?” prompt, and unless you have a backup, you won’t be able to restore the database after you hit enter, so make sure you double-check everything.

5. Confirm that the database has been successfully removed.

MySQL’s output isn’t especially helpful. In fact, usually, all you get is a Query OK message.

That’s why many people prefer to confirm that the database has been successfully deleted with the SHOW DATABASES; command.

Deleting a Database With the mysqladmin Binary

There’s another method for deleting a MySQL database via the command-line interface. The mysqladmin binary is a valuable tool that simplifies a number of database administration tasks, including setting and changing the root password, checking status variables, threads, client processes, etc.

It’s accessible only via the command-line interface, so before you can use it, you need to log in to your hosting account via SSH.

You can delete a database with it, as well. All you need is the name of the database and the login credentials of a MySQL user account with access to it.

The command looks like this:

$ mysqladmin -u [the user account’s username] -p drop [the database’s name]

Note that this is not an SQL command. You can execute it without logging in to the MySQL server, so you don’t need a semicolon at its end.

This time, you get a warning that dropping the database will irreversibly erase all the data inside it, and you need to confirm that you’re sure you want to proceed. In the end, mysqladmin will inform you that the database is deleted.

Deleting a Database in phpMyAdmin

The phpMyAdmin database administration platform is a part of many shared and managed hosting accounts nowadays. It has all the tools you need to manage your MySQL databases, and it’s integrated into quite a few popular web hosting control panels, including cPanel and SPanel.

It also has an intuitive graphical interface, so you don’t need to memorize any commands.

Deleting a database is a matter of a few mouse clicks.

1. Log into phpMyAdmin with a MySQL user account that can delete databases.

The default phpMyAdmin login URL is https://[your server’s IP]/phpmyadmin/, though some hosting providers change it for security reasons.

2. Go to the Databases tab and select the database you want to delete.

Under the Databases tab, you’ll find your user account’s databases as well as a couple of default schemas (information_schema and performance_schema). Find the database you want to erase and select the checkbox next to it.

3. Click Drop and confirm that you want to delete the database.

The Drop button is situated just above the list. After you click it, phpMyAdmin will warn you that you are about to delete the entire database. All you need to do is confirm that you want to proceed.

Deleting a Database With MySQL Workbench

MySQL Workbench is another database administration platform that helps you manage your databases without typing commands or queries. Unlike phpMyAdmin, it’s not installed on your hosting server. Instead, you set it up on your Windows, Linux, or Mac computer and use it to connect to a remote server or develop your databases locally.

Let’s see how you can remove databases from your hosting account.

1. Connect to your web hosting server.

Your first job is to establish a connection to your web hosting account. On the home screen, you’ll see a + button in the MySQL Connections section.

Workbench has a range of different mechanisms for connecting to the remote server. The one you should go for is Standard TCP/IP over SSH. With it, the communication between the server and your computer will be encrypted and, therefore, more secure.

You first need to provide the server’s IP address, SSH port, and your SSH login credentials. MySQL Workbench can also use SSH keys for faster connections and extra security.

Next, you need to configure Workbench to use your MySQL user account. To delete a database, you’ll need to use an account with the correct privileges.

You can use the Test connection button to ensure you’ve provided the correct details. With the OK button, you save the connection, and it becomes accessible from Workbench’s home screen.

2. Find the database you want to delete.

After you connect to the server, You’ll see the main dashboard. In the Navigator section, you need to open the Schemas tab. It contains a list of all the databases currently situated on your account.

Find the database you want to delete and right-click on it.

3. Click Drop schema and confirm that you want to erase the database.

Select Drop schema from the context menu and confirm that you want to delete the database.

Deleting a Database In SPanel

SPanel, ScalaHosting’s all-in-one server management platform, gives you a suite of tools that simplify the complicated task of developing an online project. This obviously includes the utilities for creating, managing, and removing databases.

In light of this, it should be no surprise that erasing a database in SPanel is nice and simple.

1. Log in to SPanel’s User Interface.

First, you need to access the SPanel account that hosts the database. There are a couple of ways to do it.

You can log in via the Admin Interface. On the homepage, you’ll see a list of all the accounts on the server. Find the one you need, open the Actions menu, and click Manage.

SPanel will redirect you straight to the account’s User Interface.

Alternatively, if you have the user account’s login credentials, you can sign in at https://[the account’s domain name]/spanel/.

2. Go to MySQL databases and find the database you want to delete.

The MySQL databases section is accessible via the homepage of SPanel’s User Interface.

Once you open it, you’ll see a list of all existing databases below the database and user setup forms. SPanel displays 10 databases per page, so if you can’t find the one you’re looking for, you can go to the next page. There’s a handy search box, as well.

3. Delete the database.

If you wish to delete a single database, you can open the Actions drop-down menu next to it and select Drop Database.

You can also drop multiple databases at once by selecting the checkboxes next to them and clicking Delete Selected.

Before it proceeds, SPanel will ask you to confirm that you want to erase the database(s).

At the bottom of the page, you’ll see a list of existing MySQL user accounts, and you can easily remove the ones you don’t need. There’s a Delete button next to each of them, and like the databases, you can use the checkboxes to remove several accounts at once.

Thankfully, the developers of Moodle, one of the world’s most popular Learning Management Systems (LMS), have implemented several mechanisms to limit access to course materials and help teachers stick to a well-structured curriculum.

Let’s have a look.

Restricting Access to an Entire Course

Moodle is suitable for anything from a small website run by a single school teacher to large e-learning projects with students from all over the world and educators specializing in different subjects. In both scenarios, the website owner needs to know who has access to what.

That’s why Moodle has user roles. As an administrator, you can go to Site administration > Users > Assign system roles and turn existing users into Managers and/or Course creators.

Both roles allow users to manage the lessons uploaded to the website. The difference is that while managers can control all courses, course creators can manage only the ones they participate in.

Managers and course creators can enroll users as Teachers, Non-editing teachers, and Students, so ultimately, they are the ones who grant and revoke access to the learning materials.

To enroll a new user in a course, open it (it will be available either on the homepage or in the My courses section) and go to the Participants tab.

From the Enroll users popup, you need to pick the user or users you’d like to enroll and select a role for them. Only enrolled users can access the materials in the course. However, the course itself remains visible to everyone. If you want to hide it, you can do so via its settings.

The Course visibility option is available during course setup. You can also find it later in the Settings tab.

Hidden courses are still visible to admins, managers, and teachers. However, students can’t access them, regardless of whether or not they’re enrolled. By hiding courses and restricting access to them, you can make a group of students follow a set curriculum. Often, however, you need to be a lot more flexible than that.

Restricting Access to Course Resources and Activities

As you probably know, Moodle courses are divided into topics. Course creators and teachers can add two types of materials to each topic – activities (like assignments, quizzes, surveys, etc.) or resources (books, files, pages, etc.).

The idea is to help users acquire new knowledge through the resources and then put it into practice via the activities. Everything has to happen in a set order, and sometimes, you need to grant access to materials according to specific criteria.

If you simply want to temporarily hide a specific course item from your students, you can do it in a couple of clicks. Log in to your account and ensure the Edit mode button in the top-right corner is enabled.

Find the course you want to modify (it’s available on the homepage, and if you’ve set it up yourself, you should also be able to find it under the My courses tab).

Locate the resource or item you’d like to hide, click the three-dot button next to it, and select Hide.

You can follow the exact same steps to unhide the item. If an activity or a resource is hidden, it becomes inaccessible to all students on the course. However, you can be even more flexible.

You may want the item to be visible to users who comply with a set of specific requirements while remaining hidden to everybody else. The resources you want to make available may also depend on the student’s grades. And sometimes, you may want to reveal a particular resource or activity at a specific date.

All these options (and more) are available in Moodle.

Only users with permission to edit the course can restrict access to resources and activities, so you need to be assigned as a manager, course creator, or teacher. Log in to your account and make sure Edit mode is enabled.

Go to the course you want to modify and locate the item you’d like to restrict. Click on its name to edit the activity or resource.

You need to open the Settings tab. Toward the bottom, you’ll find the Restrict access menu. Expand it and click Add restriction… to specify your criteria.

You’ll see five buttons giving you a range of options:

• Activity completion – You can make the item appear only after a student has completed a specific activity. Its visibility may also depend on whether or not the student has received a passing grade.
• Date – You can make the item appear on a predetermined date.
• Grade – The students will have to receive a specific grade (either for an assignment or for the entire course) before they see the item.
• User profile – You can make the item visible for a group of students only (e.g., based on their nationality).
• Restriction set – You can specify a set of nested criteria that need to be fulfilled if the item is to become visible (e.g., it will be available only to US-based students that have above-average course total grades).

After setting the restrictions, you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page and save the changes. A checkbox also lets you notify all course participants with access to the item about the modification.

The process involves converting your Wix website into WordPress, the most popular CMS on the market and widely supported by all Linux hosting providers. This way, your site can work and be managed from any of our SPanel or cPanel solutions.

To get started, all we need is to create a new WordPress installation on our server. Our cPanel clients can do this by going to the Softaculous tool located in your control panel, selecting the WordPress icon, and following the step-by-step setup wizard.

This is even easier with SPanel, as alongside the SoftaCulous App installer, you can also use our unique WordPress manager tool and have the installation up and running with just a few clicks.

The next thing here is to update your permalinks. 

You can do that by going to your WordPress admin dashboard and navigating to Settings » Permalinks. Once that is done, simply click on the Save Changes button.

So far, so good. 

The next step is adding a Theme and some Plugins to your WordPress site to take of the visual outlook and functionalities of your online project.

After you have customized your website to your liking, it is time to import your content from Wix into your WordPress.

That process can be split up into several easy steps.

1. Locate your RSS feed

First, you’ll need to open your existing Wix RSS feed file. To do this, add /feed.xml at the end of your Wix site URL. For example, if your domain name is mydomain.com, type mydomain.com/feed.xml or mydomain.com/feed into your browser’s address bar. This will also show you if your current Wix site has RSS enabled or not. If you see a page full of code – you are all good and can move to the next step.

2.  Save your RSS file

With the RSS page open, right-click anywhere on it and select Save as.Depending on the browser you’re using, you might have to rename the file extension, as it could be saving it as a .txt file. Be sure to change the file extension to .xml and store it somewhere safe.

3.  Import the RSS file into WordPress

The next step is to use the built-in RSS importer from WordPress, which can be found by clicking on Tools -> Import -> RSS.

If you already have that installed, simply click on Run Importer. You can now import the .xml file we just downloaded in the previous step. Simply select the option Upload file and import.

All that is left now is to change the DNS for the domain to point to your new server. You can do that by editing the A record from the DNS zone for the domain or by updating the nameservers to those of your new server. After a short propagation time, your domain will resolve the WordPress content with the new host.

If you are having any difficulties with this you can always reach the ScalaHosting Support over the chat or ticketing system and a friendly customer agent will be happy to assist you in a moment’s notice.

Congratulations, you have successfully migrated your website from Wix to a different host with WordPress!

The default WordPress comment system is designed to work with the Akismet anti-spam module from Automattic. This guide provides an overview of the administrative settings for WP comments so you can best manage all external content on your WP pages.

When you publish a post in WordPress, the comment system is turned on by default. This can be helpful for blog posts to develop community interaction or on product pages for valuable client feedback. As for landing pages and static content – WP publishers are better turning them off altogether as they serve no real purpose.

But let’s now take a closer look at WordPress comments and what we can really do with them?

WordPress Comment System – How does it work?

In a default WordPress installation, there is a “Hello World” page that is automatically created to illustrate the functionality of the CMS. If you go to the WordPress dashboard and open the page to edit it, you should see something like this:

Under the Discussion tab in the right side of the Gutenberg editor, you will see the settings for comments, pingbacks, and trackbacks which can be toggled on or off according to the requirements of each post. Using this option, you can decide if your page/post will show those features to visitors or hide them.

If you navigate to the /wp-admin/edit.php page, you will see a list of all content posts with the “Hello World” page listed. The interface allows you to view how many comments have been posted to the page and how many are waiting approval:

The default setting of the WordPress CMS is that comments are allowed on posts, with administrator approval required for publishing. If you click on the Comments icon next to each post, you will get to the page with all comments awaiting your confirmation.

On the comments settings page, there are quick links to view All, Pending, Approved, Spam, and Trash comments. Use the links and bulk actions to approve the relevant comments on your WordPress blog pages and delete all spam.

Enabling Comments in WordPress

To enable comments in WordPress, look under the Settings tab in WP Admin and navigate to the Discussion section.

The default post settings for WordPress comments are:

• Attempt to notify any blogs linked to or from the post
• Allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks) on new posts
• Allow people to submit comments on new posts

Changing these settings will have a global effect on all posts on the website. The options can be overridden on each individual page using the method presented in the previous section.

Turning on Comments for a Single Post or Page

For more finely-grained comment settings, the Discussion section also has some advanced options for WordPress comments that can be configured with more detail:

• Comment author must fill out name and email
• Users must be registered and logged in to comment
• Automatically close comments on posts older than (x) number of days

Turning these settings On will require users to verify their identity and email before posting comments to a site. You can also turn off comments after a certain number of days. Settings for cookies can be modified according to the requirements of your blog or ecommerce store.

Managing Comment Display in the Discussion Section

The comment settings in the Discussion section will also let you to choose the way comments are displayed on pages with nested views or time-ordered list views. 

The options here are:

• Enable threaded (nested) comments (x) levels deep
• Break comments into pages with (x) top-level comments per page and the last page displayed by default
• Comments should be displayed with the (older/newer) comments at the top of each page

NOTE: Make sure your chosen settings can integrate with your WordPress theme and user avatar system for registered users for the most efficient content display.

Establishing Moderation Settings for Comments on Pages

The final part of our Discussion section includes the settings for site-wide moderation of comments. There are two main aspects.

You can configure WordPress to receive an email whenever:

• Anyone posts a comment
• A comment is held for moderation

You can also require manual approval before a user comment appears on a live site:

• Comment must be manually approved
• Comment author must have a previously approved comment

These settings increase the level of administrative control over comment publishing on WordPress pages even more, as there now needs to be a higher level of certified activity before a user can post.

In order to establish filters for the moderation queue, use the form provided on the page:

This allows WP admins to set a hold on a comment if it contains a certain number of links, which can be indicative of spam. You can also set a list of keywords, authors, URLs, email addresses, IP addresses, or browser settings that will automatically route comments to the WordPress moderation queue. Use this form to fine-tune your site’s anti-spam filters and defend it from web attacks.

Managing Comments in WordPress

The Discussion settings also allow for the establishment of Disallowed Comment Keys that will automatically send comments to the Trash if they are included in a post. These are stringent rules and you should only use them to deal with things like hate speech, graphic language, insults, etc. on your pages.

Managing Incoming Comments

After the site-wide and individual post settings for comments are set, administrators can focus on the Comments section to manage user posts.

Using the WP Admin menu, navigate to: /wp-admin/edit-comments.php

There, you will see a list of all comments with approved and pending approval content color codes:

WordPress administrators can use the Comments column to quickly review anti-spam filters, approve pending comments, and view all of the posts users have submitted to the site.

Moderating Comments with the Comment Screen

If you need to remove a pending comment because of spam, abusive language, or hate speech, click on the check-box next to the post and select Trash from the drop-down menu:

You can also mark the message as spam to block similar posts from the user. The other option here, naturally, is to approve the comment. 

Bulk Editing Comments

The Comments section allows administrators to perform bulk actions on comments to speed up operations. You can select multiple comments together from the interface and mark them as spam or move them to the trash. You can also bulk approve legitimate comment posts.

Comment Spam

One of the oldest and most installed plugins for WordPress is the Akismet anti-spam module. Produced by Automattic, the developers of the WP core, the plugin adds an additional layer of spam protection to comment management, which is considered essential for most online projects, regardless of their niche.

Here is how Akismet can be of your benefit as well:

Akismet and Anti-Spam Settings

In order to install the Akismet anti-spam module, navigate to Plugins > Add New under the WP Admin menu to the section at: /wp-admin/plugin-install.php

The Akismet anti-spam plugin is installed by default, so you only need to click on the Activate button. This will lead to the creation of a newly registered account for the service with your own unique API key.

WordPress publishers can use Akismet anti-spam for free on their website if:

•  You don’t have ads on the site
•  You don’t sell products/services on the site
•  You don’t promote a business on the site

In case your site falls in one of those categories, there is a licensing fee of $8/mo for the service to support unlimited websites. You can find some enterprise options as well, but the Personal or Plus plan should be enough for most users.

To complete the installation process, open the Akismet settings in the WP dashboard, under the Plugins menu. Open the Settings link in the Akismet plugin section and follow these steps:

1. Click on Manually enter an API key.
2. Copy the API key from the email sent to you and paste it into the text field.
3. Click the button labeled Connect with API key.

You should then see an Akismet administration screen with settings for comments:

Since most spam comments are delivered by automated bots that operate without human interaction, Akismet is trained to recognize the most common spam tactics and eliminate the threats before they reach your site. 

The Akismet anti-spam module is recommended for increasing security and simplifying comment administration on WordPress websites. 

Comment Systems, Hack Attacks, and their Prevention

Other ways to protect your comment system on WordPress sites are to install the Captcha and Honeypot plugins across all forms on a domain. 

Captcha-type plugins implement a human verification process to confirm a legitimate user is trying to post. Honeypot plugins operate on the same principle but with even less hassle – the visitor does not need to undergo any extra steps. Instead, the honeypot tries to trick the bots by adding extra fields in the CSS that only they can see. 

WordPress Avatars

If you want your registered users to have avatars on your WordPress site, you can use the default core capabilities of the CMS or install a plugin like Gravatar.

To configure the core CMS settings, return to the Settings > Discussion page at: /wp-admin/options-discussion.php 

In this section, admins have the ability to control avatar display settings across the site, including a default image that will be used for new users. You can also turn off avatar display completely if it doesn’t fit your theme design.

Conclusion

Although there are advantages of adopting different WordPress comment solutions like Disqus, Graph Comment, wpDiscuz, and Facebook Comments, most users can start with the default CMS core functionality.

Following the configuration settings in this guide, WordPress publishers can configure the settings for each post or content type individually, as well as filter spam messages directly to trash. 

If you have more questions about WordPress comments, contact the ScalaHosting support team and we will gladly lend a helping hand.

With Gutenberg, WordPress site publishers will be able to arrange blocks, menus, JavaScript displays, widgets, and other custom elements from plugins around text in web/mobile apps. 

This article will discuss how to plan for a WordPress post using the core word processing, theme, page builder, and other professional design tools for the CMS. Let’s dive right in!

The core functionality of WordPress makes it easy to just login and start writing your posts. You can use a featured image on each page and select a theme that displays it as an anchor element. By converting the post image to thumbnails, you can build dynamic content displays for blocks. Tags, categories, and keywords allow you to build a site around SEO principles.

Gutenberg, Elementor, and other WordPress page builder solutions add WYSIWYG design elements to live publishing. But if you are using pro WP themes with your site builder or want to design landing pages – it is best to do some planning before starting a post for a better result.

Steps to Write a WordPress Post

It takes more than a “publish button” to build a WordPress website with plugin integration across every post page. You can start the design for a WordPress post with a simple post title and featured image. 

Add text and save the draft to preview the content. Anyone can use this method to publish a WordPress site with blog posts. Just click “Add new post” to get started writing.

Many bloggers are still used to writing in Microsoft Word or Google Docs and then transfer their content to WordPress for publication. That’s entirely possible as WordPress offers the ability to preserve most of the formatting for titles, links, fonts, and styling. Still, there are other issues to consider, like the images and videos that will be embedded with the content pages.

Some careful preparations are needed if you are to make it right. Planning can take the form of brainstorming, lists, wireframing, design mockups, and PSD displays with layered elements.

Planning

Your planning for a WordPress post includes the text, multimedia files, images, logos, icons, forms, and other page elements that will be displayed to users. Many GUI aspects are provided by themes based on CSS frameworks like Twitter Bootstrap, which establish a stock design.

If you are using a pro theme, it will usually come with site templates and ready-made landing pages that can be customized for reuse when building site content. It is best to make use of the provided options of the premium template and use visual page editors like Gutenberg or Elementor for composing individual pages. 

The Gutenberg Editor: The advanced block-based builder for WordPress.

Your WordPress theme will deliver the menu, header, footer, and block structure across different devices with custom CSS. Using templates with a page builder in WordPress allows content creators to reuse their content and standardize design elements for brand identity.

Researching

Researching the latest website trends for page displays, menus, JavaScript elements, widgets, and block content can easily lead to inspiration for new posts. Additionally, it’s always a good idea to keep up to date with the latest plugin releases for WordPress as they add exciting new functionalities to your pages. Use plugins to introduce new features on sites.

There are thousands of blogs covering WordPress-related topics as well, from custom theme and plugin programming to SEO and ecommerce solutions. These are great sources of inspiration for developers and can lead to new solutions that help to build complex projects.

Formatting

If you are using a professional theme or building custom landing pages with templates, you need to consider the CSS styling for each page element. Most themes provide stylesheets as part of the complete distribution, but developers can override these settings with a child theme.

Many premium templates for WordPress bundle a site builder solution like Elementor or Visual Composer with their distributions to offer even more options for building complex pages. Consider all the design, branding, and theme elements of your WordPress site before you start posting. It’s often a good idea to use pre-made templates to save time and create standardized product landing pages.

One of the main advantages of WordPress is that beginners can install a theme and publish content without needing to write custom CSS, HTML, or PHP code. The use of a page content editor like Gutenberg or a visual composer solution like Elementor is central to page formatting on modern WordPress websites. Other popular solutions are WPBakery and Beaver Builder.

Screen Display Options

Many users still prefer to revert to the familiar Classic WordPress Editor for their posts. If you are one of those people – you can download it as a plugin from your WP dashboard. 

Alternatively, you can use Gutenberg to consolidate CSS from different plugins to match the installed theme on different mobile and desktop displays. With its block-based operation, the editor allows you to more intuitively build up and rearrange your content without any previous experience.

Optimizing Your Post

Installing an SEO plugin like Yoast will give you more control over the metatags, page description, title, URL structure, and keywords associated with the post. For example:

Apart from that, you can add tags, featured categories, images, and formatting elements using the sidebar options in the Classic Editor or Gutenberg to organize your site’s content posts. 

For Gutenberg, you can take a more visual approach to page design with the Block Editor. SEO plugins like Yoast will integrate in the same manner as with the Classic Editor display.

Best Practices For Posting

WordPress website developers will need to install and test various plugins and themes to determine which solutions work best for their content production and team workflow requirements. Using a visual page builder solution with “drag & drop” features is recommended. Set up a child theme if you need to override any default CSS settings.

Always check the preview of your post before publishing. That’s a great way to test if everything looks fine before you let your content go live and start gathering attention. 

Subheadings and Bulleting are your friends when formatting. They help you avoid posting large chunks of text and significantly improve its readability for users across devices. 

The same goes for multimedia – users are naturally drawn to stunning images and videos, making them more inclined to check the text that accompanies them, especially on mobile. 

Website developers using a pro theme with Elementor or Visual Composer can add advanced template functionalities, like re-using content across site sections or creating landing pages to build brand identity. Make sure to use responsive themes and test styles across device options.

Elementor: The page builder solution includes complete site templates for WP developers.

Visual vs. Text Editor Solutions

When it comes to WordPress website design, there are advocates of both visual design and text editor solutions. Visual design is recommended for most WordPress website developers.

Usually, WordPress bloggers from the early days are most loyal to the classic text editor approach as it has been around for so many years. On the other hand, developers who often extend core functionalities through plugins and widgets can make the most out of Gutenberg for their visual design needs. Third-party solutions add more features than Gutenberg at a cost.

In the next section, we’ll take a closer look at Gutenberg and its closest market alternatives to see how each one stacks up based on the features available on free and subscription versions.

Gutenberg

Gutenberg is actively promoted by the development team at Automattic that is behind the CMS core stewardship. If you are a DIY WordPress developer, you can unveil endless opportunities by learning the ins-and-outs of the Gutenberg page builder for assembling content pages. 

Gutenberg functions as a complete dashboard for web page composition on modular design principles, which gives publishers access to a wide array of widgets, blocks, and custom displays. Making use of the features of Gutenberg is the best way to create dynamic content pages for WordPress with plugins, extensions, and APIs that display in CSS block elements.

Elementor

Elementor is the most popular alternative to Gutenberg and second most popular WP plugin overall, with over 15% of websites using it in some shape or form for page composition. 

The page builder suite is commonly bundled with many professional WordPress themes, which is great as you already have professional design layouts at your disposal. Otherwise, you can install the free version and the suite of add-ons by navigating to: /wp-admin/plugin-install.php

Elementor: The most advanced page design solution for WordPress web development.

After activation, Elementor offers a free “Hello” theme and an onboarding feature that is helpful in setting up a new website. The Elementor Editor is similar to Gutenberg and has over 90 widgets that can be used to build page design features with dynamic interactive content.

Elementor can be used with custom themes to create templates that can be used across content types, products, and landing pages. This allows you to build brand identity coherence across domains, as well as to standardize the design elements on content pages.

Visual Composer

Visual Composer takes the principle of WordPress extensibility to the highest levels, with over 500 built-in content elements that can be used to design pages. If you want to host a WP app with multiple integrations to other publishers and services – Visual Composer makes the design aspects effortless with its drag-and-drop functionality across page elements.

Visual Composer: “The WordPress site builder designed for web creators & professional sites.”

Visual Composer, Elementor, and Gutenberg all implement the WYSIWYG design approach (What You See Is What You Get) for WordPress posts. The advantage is that you don’t have to learn an entirely new editing system if you design to switch your chosen solution.

As for mobile-friendliness, Visual Composer excels with its stunning responsive themes, helping your website look great on all screens and devices like iPad, iPhone, or Android.

Conclusion

If you are using WordPress posts for landing pages or product display pages with custom fields, it is recommended to use a visual site builder solution. Apart from Gutenberg, many users have opted for wonderful alternatives like Elementor or Visual Composer for the best design representation.. 

At the end of the day, it’s your content that matters, so no matter what pizzazz you add to your posts, their value for the reader is what matters. 

What’s an auto-installer?

Even though the name gives it away, an auto-installer is a tool that automatically installs software.  Suppose you want to launch a WordPress blog by yourself. You would first need to know some computer commands to install and configure WP on your web server.

But this can be much easier.

Auto Installers use a Graphical User Interface (GUI) which automates all the click-heavy technical tasks and presents you with one-click decisions. 

Softaculous 

Softaculous is one of the most robust auto-installers for WordPress. It will help you to not only set up WP, but to apply updates or import existing installations as well.

How to Auto-Install WordPress Using Softaculous

1. Log in to your control panel and look for Softaculous in the Software section. When you find it, click on the Softaculous Apps Installer icon to go to the user panel.

2. Once you’re on the Softaculous user panel, click on WordPress.

This takes you to the WordPress page.

3. Once you click on Install, you will see the installation setup wizard.

4. The form asks for some details, including admin name, password, email, site name, language, etc.

When choosing the domain and installation folder, note that you can put WordPress in the document root by leaving the In Directory field blank. Putting any name here will create an associated subfolder and install WP inside.

5. After filling in the form, click Install and let Softaculous handle the rest. You will see a success message when the installation is complete.

Alternative Auto-Installers for WordPress

Several other popular WordPress auto installers include Plesk, Fantastico, and Installatron. All of them are relatively easy to set up and duly perform the job they’re made for–auto installing WordPress.

Let’s take a closer look at each of them:

Plesk

Never touch the command line again using the Plesk management platform. Its dashboard makes it easy to manage multiple websites. You can make unique membership plans and limit or expand the resources available to each client. 

The software is simple to use, including all the necessary capabilities for website management–install, moderate, or uninstall extensions, update CMS, etc. Mostly preferred by Windows server clients.

1. Go to the Applications tab from your Plesk dashboard, which opens the Featured Applications page.
2. If you want a one-click quick install, click Install next to WordPress. Click the drop-down arrow next to it and select Custom for custom installation parameters. 
3. If you choose the quick installation option, there is no need to do anything else–the installation is done. 

If you opted for the custom configuration, modify the specific settings you want and click Install.

Fantastico

Fantastico is an automatic installation program offering a more straightforward way to install WordPress. It makes the migration from any domain or subdomain to another a simple delight. The only thing you have to make sure you do right is to correctly modify the source URLs and the ones you want for a destination.

1. Login to cPanel and click on Fantastico or Fantastico Deluxe.
2. Next, find the Blogs category on the left-side menu. Under it you will see the WordPress option.
3. Click on the New Installation link in the WordPress Overview.
4. Fill in your details and click Submit.

Installatron

Apart from remote and automatic backups, one-click installation, and improved WordPress integration, Installatron introduces a bunch more advanced features and services. These include the upgraded administrative panel with multi-server syncing, cloning, integrated application changelogs, and comprehensive email support.

1. Log in to your web host’s control panel and find Installatron. Then, click WordPress and choose the Install this application option.
2. Modify any of the install prompts–language settings, for example–if you want to customize your new WP installation. 
3. Click Install. 

Upgrading WordPress Performance

Many of us prefer to have our WordPress site as hands-off and efficient as possible–after all, we would want to optimize it to our exact liking.  So, here’s one more way to free yourself from the time-consuming technical stuff and put your WordPress site on auto-pilot. 

WordPress Management 

Taking care of a website may seem a part of the job for many techies and server admins. But as a business owner, you want to focus on entirely different aspects of running your project. 

That’s why we “outsource” these tasks to more efficient systems like auto-installers. But why stop there?  After years of adapting to customer feedback, new challenges, and evolving alongside competitors, ScalaHosting has created some unique solutions to simplify your WordPress management even more.

SPanel is one such evolutionary system. 

SPanel VPS Hosting

SPanel is an all-in-one solution to WordPress management and security that effectively boosts our website performance while at the same time improves website security. 

SPanel is a free and easy replacement for cPanel, so you don’t have to be tied to constantly rising licensing fees. Our solution is fast, lightweight, and knows no limits when it comes to your chosen software.

Faster Websites

SPanel comes as part of our lightning-fast Virtual Private Servers (VPS) with maximum control over the customizations. Setting up a WordPress website is exactly how you want it–fast and effortless.  

Our system ensures a stable network with an uninterrupted web connection, a solid ground that helps you keep your loading time in the milliseconds. 

Effortless WP Management

Streamlining your websites often comes at a price–creative flexibility for the convenience of automation. In other words, making a process automatic reduces the number of decisions you can later make for it.  In this case, SWordPress Manager is your key to no compromise.  

This unique ScalaHosting tool allows you to install WordPress with one click, automatically update plugins, and instantly clone, stage, backup, and restore your website–without reducing your capacity to change and customize.  

SWordPress Management also includes our one-of-a-kind Security Lock feature that renders all cyberattacks useless by locking all editing opportunities until further notice.

Better Security

SShield is your 24/7 digital security guard that monitors your websites in real-time. The solution will notify you immediately should an attack occur–we gather information about the security threat as it unfolds and email you a report about what’s happening and how to fix the vulnerability and secure your site.

Smarter Choice

The SPanel suite costs just a little more each month than many pay for shared web hosting. But for those extra few bucks, you are securing yourself a fully managed cloud VPS, many new free features (dedicated IP, SSL certificates, etc.), and our highly-trained “muscle” – the support team. 

Customer support is vital for technology to run smoothly. That’s why our WordPress professionals are always at your service to keep your website performing at its best. 

It’s no wonder we build so many tools to make the entire hosting industry better. We realize that time is our most valuable asset and tailor our services to save yours as much as possible. 

And how are YOU saving time? Let us know in the comments below.

FAQs

What is a one-click WordPress install?

One-click WordPress installer is a script that automates most of the time-consuming steps of installing WordPress. The software operates through an easy-to-use interface that eliminates the tedious reading and decision-making associated with manual installations. 

How do I install WordPress without hosting?

You can create a free website on the WordPress.com subdomain. This way, you don’t have to worry about hosting, but the scarce features and control limitations may not be worth losing the benefits of a unique domain name and hosting service elsewhere.

Do you need to install WordPress on your computer?

If you want to have your website online, you should avoid installing WordPress on your computer. Instead, you can set it up on a web server. Still, it may be helpful to install WordPress locally for testing purposes, adding new plugins, running updates, and more. 

Let’s see how to make the most of them.

What Is a WordPress Category?

A WordPress category does exactly what you’d expect it to do – it helps you organize your posts in groups according to what they are about. Say, for example, you have a blog where you post about things from both your professional and personal life.

Your audience will find it much easier to navigate the content if the two are kept separate, so you want to put your work-related posts under one category and your personal stories in another. Every category has its own URL, so visitors can quickly get to the content they’re interested in.

There are further options for organizing your posts. To continue with our example, we’ll say that your professional activities range from testing different software solutions to reporting news about the latest hardware innovations. 

With WordPress, you can have child categories, so your posts about a new generation of CPUs will be in a different place from your review of a new office suite. That way, visitors after a specific type of content will know where to look.

Now that we’ve seen how categories work, it’s time to learn how to manage them.

Creating and Managing WordPress Categories

Out of the box, WordPress comes with one category labeled Uncategorized, which also acts as the default category (all the posts you publish without specifying the category go to the default one).

You probably want to change the default category from Uncategorized to something else, and you’ll likely want to remove the Uncategorized category altogether. However, before you can do that, you need to create another category.

Log in to the WordPress dashboard and go to Posts > Categories. On the left, there’s a form you’ll need to fill in order to create a new category. 

Here’s what you see:

• Name – This is the name of the category. It needs to reflect the content that will be hosted under it.
• Slug – The category’s slug is the text identifier found at the end of its URL. If you leave this field blank, WordPress will replace the spaces with hyphens and create an all-lowercase slug from the category name (e.g., the slug for “Category One” will be “category-one”).
• Parent Category – You can leave this blank for now.
• Description – You can use this field to describe the type of content users may expect from the posts in the new category. Bear in mind that only some themes will actually show the description.

When you’re ready, click the Add New Category button. The category will immediately appear on the list you see in the right-hand section of the screen.

Now you have created another category, you can make it the default one.

Go to Settings > Writing and use the drop-down menu at the top of the page to choose the default category.

Don’t forget to click the Save Changes button before you continue.

Because Uncategorized is no longer our default category, we can now delete it. Bear in mind that this won’t delete the posts under it. Instead, they will be moved under the new default category. Let’s see how it works.

As you can see from the screenshot below, we currently have three categories: Category One, Category Two, and Uncategorized. 

There are no posts in Category One and Category Two, and we have three posts in Uncategorized. We’ve already set Category One as the default category, so we can now delete Uncategorized. To do that, hover the mouse cursor over the category, and you’ll see the Delete link appear. Click on it and confirm that you want to delete the category.

If you want to delete multiple categories at once, you can use the checkboxes to the left of each category and select Delete from the Bulk actions menu.

The only category you can’t delete is the default one.

Creating a Child Category

Creating a child category is just as easy as setting up a regular one. The only difference is, you need to pick the parent category from the respective drop-down menu. Everything else is the same.

Assigning Posts to Categories

You can choose a category for your post while you’re editing it. The Categories menu is available in the sidebar on the right inside the block editor.

Notice that you can assign a single post to multiple categories. Through the same menu, you can also add new categories. Although the interface is slightly different, the functionality is pretty much the same in the Classic Editor.

Don’t forget to update the post to save the changes.

Editing WordPress Categories

You can edit a WordPress category as much as you want. Simply go to Posts > Categories, hover the mouse cursor over the category you’d like to modify, and click Edit.

You can modify the category’s name, slug, and description, and if it’s a child category, you can turn it into a regular one or change its parent. Bear in mind that changing the slug may affect your site’s SEO performance if the URLs have already been indexed by search engines.

Displaying Categories

How your categories appear on your homepage depends on your theme. You’ll need a widget to display them on the homepage. Go to Appearance > Widgets inside your WP dashboard, and click the + button in the top left corner.

Find the Categories icon in the menu that appears and drag it to the widget’s planned location.

The list of categories will appear on the page automatically. Bear in mind that if there’s a category without any posts under it, it will remain hidden.

What Is the Difference Between a Category and a Tag?

WordPress tags represent another mechanism for grouping posts and pages according to their contents. If you want to create a well-structured site where people can easily find what they’re looking for, you need to understand how tags work and how they’re different from categories.

In basic terms, tags describe the contents of your posts in more detail. While categories give you an idea of what the publication is about, tags go into more specifics about what users can expect.

Let’s continue with our example from a few paragraphs up. You have your blog divided into two main categories – Professional posts and Personal stories. Under the Professional posts category, you have a few child categories – let’s say Software, Hardware, and Peripheral.

You are reviewing a keyboard by Dell, and you naturally put it under the Peripheral category. Similarly, when you’re testing the new Dell laptop, you save it under Hardware.

You can attach the tags “dell” and “review” to both posts. As a result, users looking for reviews instead of news, for example, can easily get to the most relevant posts. The same goes for visitors trying to learn more about Dell’s products.

Like categories, tags also get their own URL, so every post tagged as a review can be accessed through a single link. On the one hand, this improves your content’s structure, and on the other, it helps with your site’s search engine rankings by tying your posts to specific terms and keywords.

Adding tags to posts is just as easy as assigning them into categories. The menu is available from the toolbar on the right inside the block editor. Add all your tags separating them with commas, and press Enter to assign them to the post.

You can assign as many tags as you want, but make sure you don’t overdo it. If you use a tag only once, the tag page will be the same as the post, which may be interpreted by search engines as duplicate content.

Try to create tags that will genuinely help visitors find what they’re looking for.

Converting Categories to Tags

Sometimes, you may need to slightly alter your site’s content structure. As always, WordPress is flexible enough to provide you with plenty of options. Here, for example, is how to convert a category to a tag.

Log into your WordPress dashboard and go to Tools >  Import. Locate the Categories and Tags Converter tool and click Install Now. WordPress will automatically install a plugin that enables the functionality.

Unlike other add-ons, the Categories and Tags Converter plugin is activated by default. After it’s installed successfully, you’ll see a Run Importer option on the Tools > Import page.

The importer displays all your categories with checkboxes next to them. Select the relevant checkboxes and click Convert Categories to Tags. You can also convert tags to categories with the same tool.

WordPress Categories Best Practices

From a user experience perspective, it’s pretty clear what WordPress categories should do. They should simplify the way people browse your website and help them find the information they’re looking for.

However, they can be crucial for your site’s SEO performance, and many people might be wondering how to make sure they reap the full benefits.

The differences between projects are enormous, and it’s impossible to apply the same content structure to all of them. However, there are a few things you should and shouldn’t do when organizing your site’s posts and pages.

Try to build a strategy beforehand and think carefully about what you’ll write. Include as many categories as you need, and before publishing a post, think carefully about what category it should go in. Ideally, you won’t be moving posts between categories, as this can confuse both readers and search engine bots.

WordPress allows you to assign a post to more than one category, and sometimes, this may seem like a good idea. From an SEO perspective, however, it’s not. Putting the same post under two or more categories means that it will appear on multiple pages on your website, and search engine crawlers may treat this as duplicate content.

Speaking of search engines, through the Settings >  Permalinks menu, you can configure WordPress to display the category in every single post URL. This may sound like a good idea at first. Search engines try to get as much information as possible from the URL itself.

However, if you ever need to change a post’s category, you’ll need to set up permanent redirects. In addition to this, it’s general knowledge that the shorter the URL, the better. That’s why experts advise against including the category in the WordPress permalinks.