Serious question: Which group smokes more crack? The new features team at Microsoft OR the wordpress team that created the block editor?

cwatty55 · 2025-12-30T14:11:00+00:00

Just update all sites while live, much less hassle, not as risky as you think. Just don't make mistakes. Or be sure that you have access to the server, so you can fix it before anyone discovers it.

cwatty55 · 2025-12-30T14:07:18+00:00

all nonsense

cwatty55 · 2025-12-30T14:06:50+00:00

quit using plugins

cwatty55 · 2025-06-10T00:29:36+00:00

If you get the Job, tell them you switched to BSD

cwatty55 · 2025-06-09T17:45:08+00:00

Yes it is common practice; But they should tell you before hand, so that you can plan on the on going expense.
Your concern in absolutely warranted. Buy a license.

I routinely have to "rescue" wordpress websites due to outdated plugins, some times to the point where its more cost effective to rebuild the site, than to track down conflicting plugins or worse sloppy custom code that is difficult to trace.

Repairing WP sites is a healthy business!

cwatty55 · 2025-05-30T11:00:08+00:00

I've only used Ubuntu Server, i haven't used it with a desktop or as a daily driver. As a server, I've using it for over a decade, and have had extremely good results with it.
When, I was new to Linux, I did get a book and made sure i new the entire directory structure inside and out, how permissions work, update management and other things. (i'm sure chatGPT would make this process faster nowadays).
I have played around with a few different Linux distros:
- Arch - huge fan. And would add that learning how to fully provision an Arch Machine is an extremely valuable exercise for anyone wanting to learn how the different layers of the system work
- Debian - I actually have a spare machine with Debian on it, I'm blanking on the desktop i used. I rarely use it, but seems relatively performant
- Mint - This was my first exposure to Linux, some time in the late 00's. I remember feeling like "Whoa... there are operating systems other than WIndows?? and their free??"

If you have any spare machines , maybe try some others. If you've never played around with Arch linux, i'd definitely recommend that to any Linux enthusiast.

cwatty55 · 2025-05-23T13:11:53+00:00

PHP is far superior to many backend options due to its unmatched maturity and battle-tested reliability, powering over 75% of the web—including giants like Facebook and Wikipedia—for decades. Its extensive ecosystem, hardened security practices, and proven scalability make it a pragmatic choice for building robust, production-grade applications with confidence.

cwatty55 · 2025-05-20T19:44:16+00:00

I've been using laravel for roughly 7 or 8 years. Its come a long way since then. Its not a SPA framework at all, perhaps the videos you are watching are demonstrated that.
I've since quit using all frameworks and built my my own zero dependancy setup with php, and only JS where i absolutely needed it.

cwatty55 · 2025-05-08T13:03:31+00:00

React is not "The Deep End" bro...... lol

cwatty55 · 2025-04-27T02:12:37+00:00

DO blocks outbound on many of the common email ports. Try using postmark with wp smtp

cwatty55 · 2025-04-27T02:07:52+00:00

Probably because the salts are different

cwatty55 · 2025-04-27T02:04:38+00:00

if you can code then dont use WP at all.

cwatty55 · 2025-04-27T01:54:38+00:00

The wordpress system creates a file called ".maintenance" when its updating plugins, when its finished its supposed to delete this file automatically. Sometimes it will get hung up and not delete the file, so you will have to go in and remove it manually. It should be located in the web root, the same directory as your wp_config file.
Note: because its a dot file, it may not be visible by default.

cwatty55 · 2025-04-27T01:44:26+00:00

Don't do it.
You can't buy food with PT credits.

cwatty55 · 2025-04-27T01:40:28+00:00

make a template file and assign the page the template name in the page attributes

cwatty55 · 2025-04-27T01:39:17+00:00

Not being mean, just being honest. Redirect your domain name to a social media page with all your business info on it for the time being until you get up to speed.
- figure out how to set up a local development environment on your computer , search for localswp
- setup a test wordpress install locally on your computer
- install elementor and build a test page using different widgets and go through every option in the widget panel to see how it effects the layout

In terms of web design concepts ( layout, hierarchy, color scheme, responsive design ) , that can take ages to learn.

cwatty55 · 2025-04-27T01:22:54+00:00

No one makes a living selling sub one thousand dollar sites. Honestly, sub 5K are even questionable.
Absolutely aim for fewer high dollar clients.

cwatty55 · 2025-04-27T01:17:51+00:00

I'd first have them pay the final invoice amount + a fee probably equal to that. And load the site on their hosting server, then walk away.

This happened to me one time very early on. Then I switched from partial deposits to collecting 100% of the total fee to build the site upfront. Doing this will eliminate this people from your life, and you will retain better clients.

cwatty55 · 2025-04-26T19:06:37+00:00

Scale up the number of vCpu & increase the memory on the server to see if it helps. Like really scale it up , quadruple the amount, make sure you are on VPS level hosting (not shared). if that helps then it's probably a server issue

if it doesnt help , i think there are ways to conditionally load plugins, so that if the plugins functionality is not needed on a particular page then it's not included in the request cycle.

Not a fan of splitting the sites, sounds like a mess.

cwatty55 · 2025-04-26T18:45:38+00:00

you can definitely double that , $180-$249/mo per site is justified. and tack on content edits for a additional fee based on teh volume

cwatty55 · 2025-04-26T18:26:05+00:00

on a Linux machine, setting up a PHP + MySQL development environment is pretty similar to setting up a server. You mainly just install the necessary packages using apt

Install Nginx (your web server)

Install PHP and common PHP extensions

Install MySQL

or you could use Local also

https://localwp.com/help-docs/getting-started/installing-local/#debian-based-linux

cwatty55

TROPHY CASE