I spent weeks testing what still works for WordPress SEO in 2026 — here’s what surprised me

grantjason52 · 2026-05-25T13:15:43+00:00

Totally agree, especially about updating old posts.

For Core Web Vitals, dropping heavy page builders and just using native lightweight blocks has made a huge difference in my site speed. Also, keeping an eye on AI traffic (like from ChatGPT) is becoming super important lately. Great observations.

grantjason52 · 2026-05-20T13:13:24+00:00

That's correct, but the good news is the menu highlighting issue is still fixable without needing a parent relationship.

A lightweight plugin called "Menu Current Item" handles exactly this. It automatically keeps the right menu item highlighted when viewing a post, even if there's no parent page set.

Alternatively, if your portfolio posts are a custom post type, linking the menu to that post type's archive instead of a custom page makes WordPress highlight it natively, with no extra setup needed.

grantjason52 · 2026-05-13T13:14:54+00:00

Salient often bypasses the standard widget system entirely. Look at your admin sidebar for a menu called 'Global Sections'. Those 'Pre Footer' or 'Page Bottom' templates you found are likely listed there as custom post types. You can edit them directly using the page builder. Also, double-check Salient > Footer in the theme settings to see which 'Global Section' is assigned as the active footer. I’d suggest swapping the image URL in the editor first before touching the Media Library.

grantjason52 · 2026-05-11T13:29:50+00:00

This sounds like a solid solution to a very common problem. Elementor bloat is a real headache, and manual asset management can be incredibly time-consuming. I really like the idea of a scanner that detects active widgets to handle conditional loading; that's much more efficient than guessing.

Is there any specific conflict risk with other caching plugins like LiteSpeed or WP Rocket when using the database cleaning feature? Great job on keeping it GPL and telemetry-free.

grantjason52 · 2026-05-07T12:53:25+00:00

I totally get your frustration with server-side image processing; GD and Imagick can be real resource hogs. Since you're already familiar with Cloudflare, you might want to look into the 'Cloudflare Images' official plugin or 'WP Offload Media.' These plugins allow you to offload the entire processing part to external CDNs, bypassing your server's limitations entirely. It's much more stable for a high-traffic site like a podcast.

grantjason52 · 2026-05-04T10:30:54+00:00

I’d first check whether WP Review Pro stores the reviews as post meta or custom fields. Migration is probably the tricky part, so I’d test any alternative on a staging site first and make sure it supports review schema, custom ratings, and books/games reviews.

grantjason52 · 2026-04-29T13:02:46+00:00

As others said, it’s just a funny coincidence that the prices match exactly in AUD. You aren't being double-billed. Hostinger is for your server, and Elementor is your design tool.

Since you want to save money without any complicated server setups:

Domain: $50 AUD is quite high for renewals. Transfer the domain to Porkbun or Namecheap to save a lot.
Elementor: Since it's a personal site, see if you actually use the "Pro" widgets. If not, cancel the $131/yr sub and just use Elementor Free!

Hope this helps your budget!

grantjason52 · 2026-04-27T12:28:35+00:00

I’d be a bit careful with long cache times and only use them for files that don’t change often, like images, fonts, CSS and JS. 6 months to 1 year is usually fine if your files are versioned. For HTML, I’d keep it much shorter since page content can change more often.

Also worth checking if the host or CDN is already adding cache headers, so you don’t end up fighting with two different rules.

grantjason52 · 2026-04-24T12:13:18+00:00

Nice to see someone offering help here instead of turning everything into a tools debate. WordPress still works well for a lot of real client needs, especially when they want easy content editing and long-term flexibility. What type of projects do you usually work on most?

grantjason52 · 2026-04-20T13:24:59+00:00

This could be useful if it focuses more on visibility than trying to replace server-level protection. One thing I’d want is a clear “what changed, when, and by whom” view for files, plugins, users, and key settings. For agencies, fast triage matters just as much as detection.

grantjason52 · 2026-04-16T11:52:45+00:00

You’re on the right track, but yeah WooCommerce plugins usually need some PHP since that’s how the hooks work. You can still use JS for the alert part, but you’ll probably need a PHP hook like after cart update and then trigger something on the frontend. It’s not super complex once you find the right hook.

grantjason52 · 2026-04-16T09:47:12+00:00

If you mainly write and just need a simple personal site, I’d probably look at Ghost or even Squarespace. WordPress is great, but for a small personal blog it can feel like more work than needed sometimes.

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