Owner guides

Plain guides for WordPress owners, EmDash and Astro explained, and field notes on how we check every page before anything changes.

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  1. Is your WordPress site a good candidate to move? Five questions, and when to stay

    Five plain questions that tell you whether your WordPress site should move, with a clear answer for every no: stay. Stores, member logins, a plugin at the core, how often your layouts change, and how big the site is.

    Owner guides11 min read
  2. What a redirect is, and why it decides whether you keep your traffic

    A redirect sends anyone who asks for an old web address to the new one. What 301, 302 and 410 mean, why redirect chains and home-page redirects cost you visits, and what to check when your site moves.

    Owner guides12 min read
  3. My WordPress site was hacked: the first hour, then how to stop a repeat

    If your WordPress site was hacked, you can recover it today. Contain it, change every password and the secret keys, check for unknown admins and backdoors, restore a clean backup or get professional cleanup, and tell Google if it flagged you. Then stop it happening again.

    Owner guides15 min read
  4. PHP2Shell and your WordPress site: how to check and update PHP

    PHP2Shell is a flaw in PHP, the software your host runs underneath WordPress, so updating WordPress does not fix it. How to check your PHP version, what to ask your host, how to update PHP safely, and why this one is separate from wp2shell.

    Owner guides9 min read
  5. What is Astro? The framework behind EmDash, for website owners

    Astro is the open-source framework that builds a website's pages, and the layer EmDash runs on. What it is, why Astro sites tend to load fast, how it fits with EmDash, and the honest Astro vs WordPress trade-offs, including who should stay.

    Owner guides12 min read
  6. Your WordPress contact form stopped sending email: fix it today

    Most WordPress contact forms that stop sending email still work. The message leaves your server with no proof it came from your domain, so the inbox drops it. Six steps to fix it today and confirm the fix, in plain English.

    Owner guides13 min read
  7. What is EmDash? The "spiritual successor to WordPress", in plain English

    EmDash is a free, open-source website editor from Cloudflare, built on Astro, that its makers call the spiritual successor to WordPress. Here is what it is, who makes it, how editing works, how its plugins stay contained, and what it is not ready for yet.

    Owner guides12 min read
  8. Website migration SEO checklist: leaving WordPress without losing your rankings

    What we check before, during and after moving a WordPress site, written for the owner who has to judge the work, not do it. What has to be true at each step, and the proof to ask for.

    Owner guides12 min read