WordPress

The routine checks that keep a WordPress site from quietly accumulating problems, done monthly rather than only when something breaks.

It depends on whether you would rather pay for automation or do the maintenance yourself. Both routes end up in the same place.

There is no magic number. What matters is what each plugin actually does, not how many are listed on the Plugins page.

Minor releases update themselves silently by default. Major releases, themes and plugins do not, unless you tell WordPress otherwise.

Files and database, together — a backup missing either one is not a backup. Three ways to take one, and how to prove it works.

Three ways to change the WordPress site URL, and why a search-and-replace on the database is usually still required afterwards.

WordPress will not let you rename a username directly — create a new administrator account instead, or rename it through the database.

What actually accumulates in a WordPress database over time, and how to clear it out safely before optimising the tables.

Isolate the site, find every piece of the infection, remove it, close how it got in, then confirm it is actually gone.

Rename the plugin folder over FTP, or edit the database directly, when a broken plugin has locked you out of the dashboard itself.

A methodical way to find out which plugin is actually responsible before you start deactivating things at random.

Why a site on HTTPS still triggers a "not fully secure" warning, and how to hunt down and fix every http reference causing it.

The built-in mail function WordPress uses by default is unreliable — the fix is an SMTP plugin configured with real mail server credentials.

The home page loads, but every post and page 404s. Almost always a permalinks or .htaccess problem, and almost always fixable in minutes.

Submitting the login form just bounces you back to it — usually a URL mismatch, cookie problem, or a plugin, worked through in order.

A blank white page with no error message, caused by a plugin, a theme, or a memory limit — and how to work out which one.

Raise WP_MEMORY_LIMIT in wp-config.php first, then the server-wide PHP limit behind it if the error keeps coming back.

The upload limit shown in Media, Add New actually comes from PHP settings, not WordPress — raise it in your control panel first.

Create a database, upload the files, edit wp-config.php, and run the installer — five steps, no one-click installer required.

The one-click route, the manual route, and the handful of setup choices that are annoying to change later.

WordPress does not limit failed logins by default. Here is how to add a lockout, and what to pair it with for it to actually help.

The simplest way to move a WordPress site between hosts, what its size limits are, and how to confirm it actually worked.

Use the WordPress Address and Site Address split to serve from the root without moving files, or move the files properly if you would rather.

Copy the files and database across, update the configuration, test before anyone sees it, then switch DNS with the old site still live.