Managing Multiple WordPress Sites: An Open Forum Discussion & Demonstration

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Managing Multiple WordPress Sites An Open Forum Discussion & Demonstration WordPress St. Petersburg

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WordPress St. Petersburg Downtown St. Pete, 1st & 3rd TUESDAYS / Monthly Suncoast Developers Guild 2220 Central Avenue, St. Pete, FL 33712 Meetup: https://meetup.com/WordPress-St-Petersburg Web: https://wptampabay.org Slack Chat | Facebook Group | Meetups A Member of WordPress Tampa Bay Network

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Jim True @jimtrue, jimtrue.com Support Engineer, Gravity Forms https://gravityforms.com

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What We’re Discussing Tonight • Minimum Toolbox: What you need to manage multiple sites • Additional Tools: Utilities that help round out your management capabilities. • Host Provided Tools: What you can do for “free” • Plugin Provided Tools & Services: Plugins & Services • Open Discussion: What tools do you use and what do you like and hate about ‘em?

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Minimum Toolbox UPDATES WordPress Plugins Themes BACKUPS Database Files MONITORING Uptime MANAGEMENT Users Passwords

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UPDATES Toolbox UPDATES WordPress Plugins Themes • Accessed under Dashboard, Updates. Visible under Plugins. • WP Updates are CORE, Major & Minor/Critical/Maintenance • Maintenance & Critical Updates can be handled through wp_conﬁg.php settings • Most Managed Hosting Platforms will perform WP Updates automatically • Plugins & Themes, can be either Major or Minor updates Don’t Even THINK about Updating without BACKUPS FIRST!

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BACKUPS Toolbox BACKUPS Database Files • Backing Up is CRITICAL before performing updates! • DB Backup through phpMySQLAdmin (cPanel) • File backup is everything in the installation directory • Most WP Backups are full DB MySQL Dump (as a ﬁle) and the entire installation directory Zipped Up Updates CAN Touch BOTH the DB & Files ie, WooCommerce, WP (some), Membership, Huge Content Management

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Backup & Update Workﬂow LIVE STAGING FREEZE • NEVER Update on LIVE Site • Backup to STAGING • FREEZE Changes on LIVE • UPDATE on Staging and TEST, TEST, TEST! • Update LIVE after Testing OR Copy Staging over LIVE UPDATE LIVE STAGING

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MONITORING Toolbox MONITORING Uptime • MINIMUM Ping Test to the Website • UpTime Robot • Ideally should ALERT when DOWN and when UP • Best Alerts use SMS, Email, & Twitter You Wanna Know BEFORE Your Client Knows!

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MANAGEMENT Toolbox MANAGEMENT Users Passwords • Manage your ADMIN Username/Email & Password • Ideally also track cPanel, MySQL DB, FTP/SFTP Locations, UserNames, Ports & Passwords • LastPass, 1Password DO NOT Use Same Password For Everything!!!

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Host Provided Tools • cPanel: File Backups, User & Password Creation, phpMyAdmin • Managed WordPress Hosts: WPEngine, FlyWheel, SiteGround, etc. • Managed Hosts do SnapShot Backups & Restores, Backups to Staging, Staging to Production • Usually Manage WordPress Updates • Almost always include SOME level of UpTime Monitoring • Reseller Tools are MORE Flexible

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Additional Tools SECURITY Malware Security REPORTING User Reports MISCELLANEOUS Analytics Page & Post Management • Malware Scanning & WordFence Security • Branded User Maintenance Reports • SEO Checking & Google Analytics • Page & Post Management • Comment Management

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Inﬁnite WP • Installs on YOUR Web Server (cPanel) • Plugin Runs on Websites you Manage • FREE provides 1-click Access, Updates, Backups & Uptime Monitoring • Premium EVERYTHING! https://inﬁnitewp.com/

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iThemes Sync Pro • Dashboard & Client install as WP Plugins • BackupBuddy • Sync is Cloud Oﬀsite Sync for Backups • Premium includes many features https://ithemes.com/sync/

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JetPack • Requires WordPress.com account • JetPack Plugin on your WP Site • Management in WordPress.com Dashboard • FREE includes Plugin & Theme Updates, WP Updates, User Management, Brute Force Protection, Some Reporting • VaultPress, etc. is PREMIUM https://jetpack.com

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MainWP • Dashboard & Client install as WP Plugins • Updates, Remote Login, Security, Page & Post Management • Additional Functionality added by Extensions • Core Plugin is free, Extensions are Premium https://mainwp.com/

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ManageWP • Dashboard & Client install as WP Plugins • Can Manage on Cloud or Dashboard Install • Updates, Backups, Remote Login included • Premium includes many additional features https://managewp.com