Category: miscellaneous

In today’s digital era, coding isn’t just a skill—it’s a gateway to financial freedom. And if there’s one language leading the charge, it’s Python. Whether you’re aiming for a high-paying job, freelancing, or even launching your own tech business, Python can take you there.

If you’re serious about making money online, here’s why you shouldn’t stop learning Python.

Python’s Versatility Opens Countless Doors

Python isn’t just for programmers—it’s for problem solvers, innovators, and entrepreneurs. It’s used in web development, artificial intelligence, data science, automation, and more. That means, with Python under your belt, you’re not stuck in one lane. You can pivot between industries and explore multiple income streams. The more you know, the more you can earn.

High Demand Means High Pay

Companies everywhere are hunting for skilled Python developers. From startups to tech giants, businesses need Python experts to build software, analyze data, and develop AI-powered solutions. The demand keeps rising, and so do salaries. Staying ahead of the curve by sharpening your Python skills ensures you’re always in demand—and well-compensated for it.

Freelancing: Get Paid on Your Terms

Not a fan of the 9-to-5 grind? Python lets you break free. Platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, and Toptal are overflowing with job postings for Python developers. Whether you want to work part-time, full-time, or just pick up side gigs, freelancing gives you the flexibility to set your own rates and choose your own projects. As your portfolio grows, so does your earning potential.

Build Your Own Money-Making Projects

Python isn’t just about working for others—it’s about creating your own wealth. You can build and sell applications, automation tools, or SaaS products. Want to develop a game, an AI chatbot, or a mobile app? Python makes it possible. Many developers have turned their side projects into full-blown businesses. Why not you?

Stay Ahead with Continuous Learning

Tech is always evolving, and so should you. New Python frameworks, libraries, and advancements pop up regularly. Staying updated not only keeps your skills relevant but also helps you spot new opportunities before others do. The more you learn, the more innovative and competitive you become.

Teach Python and Get Paid

Already skilled in Python? Teach others and turn it into a revenue stream. Platforms like Udemy and Coursera allow you to sell online courses, while YouTube and Medium let you monetize tutorials, blogs, and coding guides. Whether you enjoy writing, making videos, or mentoring, sharing your knowledge can be both fulfilling and profitable.

The Bottom Line

Python isn’t just a programming language—it’s a money-making powerhouse. From freelancing to full-time jobs, from launching products to teaching others, the opportunities are endless. The key? Keep learning, keep building, and keep pushing forward.

If you’re serious about financial growth, Python is the skill that keeps on giving. So don’t stop now—your next big opportunity could be just one line of code away.

What Sigmund Freud Can Teach You About Using WordPress Plugins

If Freud were alive today, he’d probably have a lot to say about the way we navigate the digital world. And if he saw how often his brainchild—psychoanalysis—gets mocked on the internet, he might just throw in the towel altogether.

But despite the memes and skepticism, Freud’s theories still have a lot to teach us—not just about the human psyche, but about something as seemingly unrelated as WordPress plugins. Sounds like a stretch? Stick with me.

Freud’s Psyche and Your Website’s Functionality

Freud famously divided the mind into three parts:

• Id – the primal, impulsive part of us that just wants what it wants.
• Ego – the rational mediator, balancing desires with reality.
• Super-Ego – the moral compass, reminding us to do the right thing.

Now, let’s apply that to website building.

• Id: “I want my website to make tons of money!”
• Ego: “I need to build a solid, engaging platform to attract and retain users.”
• Super-Ego: “I should ensure my website is inclusive and valuable to others.”

WordPress plugins? They’re the Ego of this equation—the tools that bridge the gap between raw ambition and structured execution. They don’t have personal ambition or ethical concerns; they’re just code, cold and logical, helping to transform chaotic ideas into functional reality. Let’s break that down.

So, What Exactly Are WordPress Plugins?

Think of plugins as little bundles of pre-written code that extend the functionality of your WordPress site. Instead of manually coding every feature, you can install a plugin in just a few clicks. Need an online store? WooCommerce has you covered. Want a slick image gallery? Try Envira Gallery. Need better SEO? Yoast SEO is your friend.

Essentially, plugins let you turn an ordinary WordPress site into whatever you need—a shop, a portfolio, a membership site, a booking system. The possibilities are endless, but here’s the catch: with great power comes great responsibility.

The Pleasure-Pain Principle of Plugins

Freud’s Pleasure Principle suggests that humans seek pleasure and avoid pain. Sounds simple, right? But as any WordPress user will tell you, working with plugins can be a rollercoaster of both.

Nothing feels better than finding the perfect plugin that does exactly what you need. But when things go wrong? Anxiety, frustration, maybe even rage-quitting. Here are some of the most common plugin headaches and how to deal with them:

1. The Plugin Is No Longer Supported

Just like people, plugins don’t live forever. Developers move on, businesses shift priorities, and suddenly, your once-reliable plugin hasn’t been updated in years. Even if it still works, it could become a security risk.

Solution: Start hunting for a replacement. Check out premium options, or—if you’re really attached—hire a developer to update it (though be warned, this can get expensive).

2. The Dreaded White Screen of Death

One minute, everything is fine. The next? A blank, lifeless screen. No error message, no clues—just digital oblivion.

Solution: First, increase your PHP memory limit by editing your wp-config.php file. If that doesn’t work, disable all plugins and reactivate them one by one to find the culprit.

3. Plugin Conflicts and Theme Issues

Ever installed a plugin only to have your site start acting weird? Maybe your theme and plugin just don’t get along.

Solution: Deactivate recent plugins one by one to pinpoint the troublemaker. If necessary, switch to a default WordPress theme to see if the issue persists.

4. Can’t Add Plugins?

New to WordPress and can’t figure out why you can’t install plugins? You might be using WordPress.com instead of WordPress.org.

Solution: Only WordPress.org users have full plugin freedom. If you’re on WordPress.com, you’ll need a Business Plan to install plugins—and even then, your options are limited.

Where to Find (Safe) Plugins

The best place to find reliable plugins is the official WordPress Plugin Directory, which boasts over 50,000 options. But if you’re willing to invest in premium plugins, check out trusted marketplaces like:

• CodeCanyon
• MOJO Marketplace
• Creative Market

Just remember: downloading plugins from shady sources is a great way to get hacked. Stick to reputable developers and always check reviews before installing.

WordPress: A Relic Like Freud?

Freud’s theories have been debated, dismissed, and reinterpreted over the years—but psychoanalysis still has its place. Likewise, WordPress has been around for ages (in internet years, at least—18 and counting), and while it’s not perfect, it remains the go-to CMS for millions.

Sure, it has its downsides:

• Duplicate pages and images can pile up.
• Unverified plugins and themes can introduce security risks.
• Basic features are limited without plugins.
• Too many plugins can slow your site down.

But despite these drawbacks, WordPress remains an unbeatable option for small and medium-sized businesses. It’s affordable, widely supported, and incredibly flexible.

At the end of the day, the choice between a custom-built site and WordPress comes down to your needs. But one thing is clear: just like Freud’s theories helped us understand the mind, WordPress plugins help us shape the web—one site at a time.

In the world of natural language processing (NLP) and information retrieval, few concepts are as foundational as TF-IDF. Short for Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency, TF-IDF is a method used to measure how important a word or phrase is within a specific document relative to a larger collection of documents, known as a corpus. Whether you’re building a search engine, analyzing text data, or simply curious about how machines make sense of words, understanding TF-IDF can unlock a deeper appreciation for how content relevance is determined.

The Origins of TF-IDF

The story of TF-IDF begins in the 1970s, when researchers Karen Spärck Jones and Stephen Robertson at the University of Cambridge pioneered a new way to think about text. They recognized that not all words carry equal weight in a document. A common word like “the” might appear dozens of times but reveal little about the document’s essence, while a rare term like “quantum” could signal something highly specific. By blending term frequency (how often a word appears in a document) with inverse document frequency (how rare it is across a corpus), they crafted a formula that revolutionized how we evaluate textual significance. Today, TF-IDF remains a cornerstone of text analysis, even as more sophisticated techniques have emerged.

How TF-IDF Works

At its core, TF-IDF balances two key ideas: frequency and uniqueness. Let’s break it down:

• Term Frequency (TF): This is simply a count of how many times a word appears in a document, often normalized by the document’s total word count. For example, if “apple” appears 5 times in a 100-word article, its TF is 0.05.
• Inverse Document Frequency (IDF): This measures a word’s rarity across the entire corpus. It’s calculated as the logarithm of the total number of documents divided by the number of documents containing the word. If “apple” appears in only 10 out of 1,000 documents, its IDF would be log(1000/10) = 2.

The TF-IDF score is then the product of these two values: TF × IDF. A high score emerges when a word is both frequent in a specific document and uncommon across the corpus, signaling its importance to that document’s meaning.

Imagine a blog post about fruit where “apple” appears often. If “apple” is rare in a corpus of tech articles but common in cooking blogs, its TF-IDF score in the fruit post would be high, highlighting its relevance there.

Why TF-IDF Matters

TF-IDF’s brilliance lies in its simplicity and effectiveness. It was among the earliest tools to help computers sift through vast text collections and pinpoint relevant documents—a task that’s still critical today in digital libraries, academic databases, and content management systems. By downplaying common words and elevating distinctive ones, TF-IDF ensures that the essence of a document shines through, making it invaluable for tasks like document classification, text mining, and even early search engine algorithms.

However, TF-IDF isn’t just a relic of the past. It’s still used in modern applications, from spam detection to recommendation systems, because it provides a lightweight, interpretable way to analyze text. While it’s not the flashiest tool in the NLP toolbox, its foundational role paved the way for more complex methods like word embeddings and neural networks.

TF-IDF and SEO: Myth vs. Reality

A common question among website owners is whether TF-IDF can boost their Google rankings. The short answer? No. TF-IDF isn’t a direct ranking factor for Google or any modern search engine. While it might have influenced early search algorithms, today’s engines rely on far more advanced techniques—like semantic analysis and user behavior signals—that go beyond simple word weighting.

Optimizing a webpage for TF-IDF is also a misguided strategy. Pumping a keyword into your content to inflate its TF-IDF score would likely backfire, resembling keyword stuffing—a practice search engines penalize. Instead, the focus should be on crafting valuable, reader-friendly content where keywords flow naturally. Quality and intent trump mechanical metrics every time.

TF-IDF for WordPress: Automating Internal Link Suggestions

One exciting application of TF-IDF lies in enhancing WordPress sites through automation, particularly for suggesting internal links. Internal linking—connecting one page or post to another on your site—boosts user engagement, improves navigation, and can even enhance SEO by distributing link equity. However, manually identifying relevant pages to link can be time-consuming. Here’s where TF-IDF steps in as a game-changer.

Imagine a WordPress plugin powered by TF-IDF. As you write a new post, the plugin could analyze its content, calculate TF-IDF scores for key terms, and compare them to scores from your existing posts. For instance, if you’re drafting a piece about “organic gardening” and the term “composting” has a high TF-IDF score, the plugin could scan your site’s corpus—your collection of posts—and suggest linking to an older article where “composting” also scores highly. This ensures the suggested links are contextually relevant, not just based on keyword matches.

Developing such a tool would involve extracting text from WordPress posts via the database or REST API, building a corpus, and computing TF-IDF scores in real-time. A simple algorithm could then rank potential link targets by score similarity, presenting them in the editor (like the Gutenberg sidebar) for one-click insertion. Advanced versions might filter out overly common terms (like “and” or “the”) and prioritize niche phrases, refining suggestions further.

This automation saves time, encourages a robust site structure, and keeps readers engaged with related content—all without requiring manual analysis. While not a native WordPress feature, developers could leverage TF-IDF’s lightweight nature to craft custom plugins, marrying classic text analysis with modern CMS functionality.

Practical Takeaways

So, where does TF-IDF fit into your world? If you’re a developer or data analyst, it’s a handy tool for building basic search functionality or analyzing text datasets—perhaps even coding that WordPress linking plugin. For content creators, it’s a reminder that relevance comes from meaningful language, not just repetition. While TF-IDF won’t unlock the secrets of Google’s algorithm, it remains a timeless lesson in how words derive their power—from context, rarity, and purpose.

In a nutshell, TF-IDF is a bridge between human language and machine understanding. It’s not the whole story of text analysis, but it’s a chapter worth knowing.

A database name in MySQL can be any valid string that follows the naming rules:

1. It must start with a letter or an underscore, followed by letters, numbers, or underscores.
2. It should be less than 64 characters long.
3. It cannot contain spaces or special characters, except for underscores.

Examples of valid database names in MySQL:

• my_database_name
• customer_data
• uk_data_2023
• __my_private_data

In order to maintain brevity we have created a GIF that is demonstrative and will help to create a new database in MySql faster.

The Vital Role of PHP in WordPress Websites and Why Updating It Matters

Every webpage you visit is powered by programming code, quietly working behind the scenes to deliver the experience you see. While front-end technologies like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript bring websites to life in your browser, there’s a whole other layer at play before a page even loads: server-side programming. For WordPress sites—used by over 40% of the web—this layer is dominated by PHP, a versatile and essential language. In this article, we’ll explore PHP’s critical role in WordPress, why keeping it updated is non-negotiable, and how to safely upgrade your site’s PHP version for optimal performance.

What Is PHP and How Does It Power WordPress?

PHP, or Hypertext Preprocessor, is a server-side scripting language designed to generate dynamic web content. Unlike HTML, which structures content, or CSS, which styles it, PHP runs on the server to process requests, interact with databases, and deliver customized pages to users. For WordPress, PHP is the backbone. It powers everything from your site’s page templates and themes to the plugins you rely on and even the WordPress dashboard itself. Without PHP, your WordPress site simply wouldn’t function.

This language’s flexibility allows developers to create the vast ecosystem of themes and plugins that make WordPress so popular. Whether it’s rendering a blog post, processing a contact form, or managing user logins, PHP is at work, executing the logic that keeps your site running smoothly.

Why Updating PHP Is Essential for Your WordPress Site

While PHP is indispensable, it’s not static. The PHP community regularly releases new versions, each bringing performance improvements, security patches, and modern features. However, many WordPress users overlook updating their site’s PHP version, often sticking with outdated releases like PHP 5.6 or 7.0—both long past their support lifecycles as of 2025. Running an old PHP version can expose your site to vulnerabilities, slow load times, and compatibility issues with newer themes and plugins.

For instance, PHP 8.0 and later versions offer significant speed boosts thanks to features like the JIT (Just-In-Time) compiler, alongside enhanced security measures. Search engines like Google also prioritize fast, secure sites, making PHP updates a subtle yet powerful SEO advantage. If your site lags or crashes due to an outdated PHP version, you risk losing visitors—and rankings.

How to Check Your WordPress Site’s PHP Version

Ready to see where your site stands? Checking your PHP version is straightforward. Log into your WordPress dashboard, navigate to Tools > Site Health, and click the “Info” tab. Scroll to the “Server” section—your PHP version will be listed there. Alternatively, contact your hosting provider, as they manage the server environment running PHP.

Steps to Safely Update Your PHP Version

Upgrading PHP isn’t complex, but it requires caution. Follow these steps:

1. Check Current Version: Log into your WordPress dashboard, go to Tools > Site Health > Info > Server, and note your PHP version (e.g., 7.4). Alternatively, check via your hosting control panel (e.g., cPanel).
2. Verify Compatibility: Review your theme and plugin documentation for PHP requirements. Install the PHP Compatibility Checker plugin to scan for issues with a newer version (e.g., 8.1 or 8.2).
3. Backup Your Site: Use a plugin like UpdraftPlus to save your files and database, or manually download via FTP and export the database with phpMyAdmin. Store backups securely.
4. Set Up Staging (Optional): Create a staging site via your host (e.g., SiteGround) to test the update without affecting your live site.
5. Update PHP: Access your hosting panel. In cPanel, find “Select PHP Version”, choose a supported version (e.g., 8.2), and save. In Plesk, go to “PHP Settings” and apply the change.
6. Test Thoroughly: Visit your site, check key pages, and test forms, logins, and plugins for errors (e.g., 500 errors or blank screens).
7. Fix Issues: Revert to the old version if needed, enable WP_DEBUG in wp-config.php to diagnose, and update incompatible plugins/themes.
8. Go Live: Push changes from staging (if used) and monitor performance.

Final Thoughts

PHP is the unsung hero of WordPress, driving its flexibility and power. Keeping it updated ensures your site stays secure, fast, and SEO-friendly—key factors in 2025’s competitive digital landscape. Take a moment to check your PHP version today, and don’t hesitate to upgrade. Your website’s performance and rankings will thank you!

This is a common feature that we quite often want to use Next Post or Previous Post button in our WordPress blog to give better internal link structure, user engagement, and user interaction on our website.

This is easily doable by a WordPress function = get_adjacent_post

get_adjacent_post( bool $in_same_term = false, int[]|string $excluded_terms = '', bool $previous = true, string $taxonomy = 'category' )

I am providing the final snippet that must work like a charm.

<?php 
  $prev_post = get_adjacent_post(false, '', true);
  $next_post = get_adjacent_post(false, '', false);
  if(!empty($prev_post)) {
    echo '<a href="' . get_permalink($prev_post->ID) . '" title="' . $prev_post->post_title . '">' . 'Previous Post' . '</a>';
  }
  if(!empty($next_post)) {
    echo '<a href="' . get_permalink($next_post->ID) . '" title="' . $next_post->post_title . '">' . 'Next Post' . '</a>';
  }
?>    

The final output in the browser is like this:

Please let us know if you have any questions or suggestions.

Organize with a goal in mind

Why bloggers and content writers should be bothered getting organized? We get organized to achieve great goals. We do not organize just to appeal to others and look good. We organize to delegate our time resources and achieve big goals.

Organizing systems are really vehicles to get you to your bigger goals. So you shouldn’t organize anything without asking why?

People don’t invest that kind of time or money in designing a system for their lives unless there is something they are trying to achieve. Very commonly, people want to organize their time and their schedules to create space for quality time with their families and quality time for themselves. That is a very common goal. If you were more organized, if your schedule was more organized, if your space was more organized, you would free up time to be present, with your friends, with your family, with your kids, with your spouse, and with yourself. That’s probably one of the most common motivations. Another in our work lives. I want to get organized, manage my time so that I can fulfill my greatest potential. If you’re bogged down with procrastination, or you’re always late and then you feel really guilty, so you’re not really confident, which means you don’t really show up and really throw in at meetings or with clients, but you kind of hold back because you feel incompetent or you feel embarrassed, you feel like behind the eight ball, then you’re missing opportunities. So it’s usually to really seize the maximum opportunities at work. Whether you work for yourself, or you work for a small company or a nonprofit or government or big company. It’s really to maximize your opportunities.

Organize like a kindergarten classroom

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video- [Interviewer] So if you’ve got over 30 years of experience as a professional organizer, for folks who’ve got some clutter in their lives, do you have any pro tips or tricks that you use over and over and over again that the rest of us, lay people, should know? – [Interviewee] Yeah, I think when it comes to organizing, I model every single physical organizing system on the model of a kindergarten classroom without exception. – No kidding. – [Interviewee] Yep. So you just picture a kindergarten classroom. It is the perfect model of organization. The room, imagine it. This is a room where you can have like 25 five-year-olds that within the first two weeks of school, no matter how messy that room gets, at the ring of a bell, everything is back in its home by five-year-olds, right? – [Interviewer] Yeah. – [Interviewee] So how is that room organized? It is organized into activity zones. There’s a reading area, a dress-up area, a building-blocks area, a music zone, right? And everything is stored at it’s point of view. So if you’re in the music zone, everything that is related to music is in there. There’s nothing on the other side of the room. If you’re in the arts-and-crafts zone and you’re painting a picture and you want to add glitter and glue, it’s right there in the arts-and-crafts zone. Even if there’s an empty shelf in the reading corner, no teacher would ever put arts and crafts in the reading zone. So it’s storing items at their point of views as related to an activity. And then everything’s stored in a container that is perfect for what you’re storing, right? So like puzzles are in those little slotted trays, and they’re very organized. The building-blocks area, there’s one cubby for the columns and another one for the rectangles and another one for the arches. And you just, everything is a home that’s perfect fit for what you’re putting away. And the whole room becomes kind of a visual menu of everything that’s important to the people who use that space. So like a kindergartner can just come in and look around and say, “What is there to do? Oh, I’m going to go over and build something.” And run over to that area. And that’s really how our homes and our offices and our filing systems, digital or in paper, should reflect who we are, and what we want, and where we’re going. They should reflect our activities and reflect our life back to us. It’s a very visual and very powerful and very effective way of organizing everything.

Tailor your system to your style

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video- Let’s talk about you’ve got a particular approach called the inside-out I guess method or approach or style or flavor. So can you walk us through, what is that and how do we do that? – Yeah, so organizing from the inside out is really about designing systems that reflect your unique personality, style and goals, so that it’s very natural and easy to maintain. And too often we try to organize from the outside-in, what does that look like? You just ask somebody else like, “Oh, which app do you use “for your to-dos or your calendar?” or, “You know, how many to-dos do you put in your list “for the day?” And or “How do you organize your closet?” And where we buy containers, and we buy tools and we think those tools are going to organize us, they don’t. You have to design your system the unique way you think and your natural habits so that you don’t have to change who you are to be organized but it actually enhances and unleashes your full potential and it works and it lasts, right? – Well, that sounds awesome. – Yeah. – Well can you give us an example maybe of, hey, given your context or your style or approach, you might want to choose A over B. – So one is people are like, where do I keep track of my to-dos, it’s one of the universal questions of today’s era, because there are so many options and our to-dos come at us from so many different directions. So people are like digital or paper, that’s the big first cut. So, usually I will ask people if they are to sort of identify, are you a visual tactile person, or you kind of a digital linear person? And a visual, tactile person will remember where on a page they wrote something. They’re like “Oh, that was like three pages back “in the upper right corner in green ink,” like they have a visual, tactile memory of where information is. And if you relate to that then you are probably best on a paper to-do system because the act of writing pen to paper emblazons it on your memory, helps you process in groups similar kinds of tasks and just writing it helps you process what you’re doing and if you try to do it digitally, it’s not sticky. So that’s like one cut and then if it’s paper, then you just have to sort of search through the various products that are out there. That’s one example. – Okay, so that’s intriguing and very descriptive. I think some people will say, “Yes, that’s me” and that’ll kind of resonate right away and so what would be the, yes, that’s me equivalent for those who are in the digital linear zone? – Yeah, I think people who are sort of digital linear thinkers can, very often, they’re kind of chronologic in their thinking, 

Three steps for organizing anything

Delegate your assignment

Can I delegate to someone else? Delegation refers to the assignment of responsibility for specific tasks from one person to another. Many fear delegating tasks to others because of various reasons. One is the lack of confidence because you do not trust someone of their skills and confidence. You enjoy completing certain projects so you do not want to delegate.

Whatever the reason, it’s important to continue honing the skills, as constantly refusing to delegate the assignment can have negative consequences. You will overload your schedule and prioritize the tasks with low importance. The team members may also miss important opportunities.

Schedule your most important tasks

Blogging at times can be stressful, boring, and exhaustive. Do not kill time, the scarest resource that we all have. Napoleon Bonaparte once said that space we can recover, but time never.

Scheduling is the art of planning your activities so that you can achieve your goals and priorities your assignment in the time available. Scheduling helps you achieve what you can do in a day, month, or year.

1. Identify the time that you can dedicate to blogging as compared to other relevant task of the day.
2. Scheduling help identifying and blocking non-essential task so that we can dedicate the time resource to those tasks which are important.
3. Scheduling help prioritize highly important tasks.
4. scheduling help bloggers identify contingency time to handle unpredictable events and interruptions from their blogging journey.
5. Bloggers can schedule the activities that address their priorities and personal goals in the time that is available.
6. Scheduling can be the key driver tio indetify the task that can be delegated.

It’s important that your schedule makes time for your professional and personal goals. If you have little or no discretionary time left when you reach step five, revisit your tasks to see if you can do them differently – otherwise, your work-life balance will suffer.

We have written in detail how scheduling can help bloggers.

Do not start your day with email.

“Lose an hour in the morning, and you will be all day hunting for it.”
-Richard Whately

Morning is the point of the day when our batteries of life are fully charged. We are relaxed and have regained our full strength after a full night’s sleep.

Email is a delivery mechanism for messages, requests, reminders, purchases, junk, and solicited messages. But in all, it is a reactive mechanism.

Ignorance is bliss. There could be so much that would have happened in the external world, and the worst would be interacting with those changes if those changes are not positive and can be the bearer of bad news. It could lead to stress and anxiety in the morning. I invest 1st hour of the morning in the most productive and creative work of the day.

Every day is a new opportunity to accomplish something personally or professionally. Investing in the right and most important things in the very first hour of the day will be a wise decision.

Batch process your email — Avoid constant engagement

A university in Britain carried out a study that studies the effect of batch processing of emails as compared to processing email with constant engagement throughout the day. It was a very extensive and well-conducted study.

The test was conducted by dividing people into two batches.

Sample One: They checked emails and their social media accounts for the entire day.

Sample Two: They checked their emails and social media accounts in batches across the day. Batch processing means dedicating only a certain amount of time: 20 minutes, 40 minutes, or 1 hour across the entire day. Maybe once, twice, or thrice.

The conclusion of the study was that the people who batch-processed their emails rather than constantly engaging in email tasks were able to invest less total time in their email management, yet were so productive in cleaning and delegating their emails, and were able to save so much time that can be utilized productively in other assignments.

Solve one problem at a time

For every blogger and creative artist, time is the scarest resource. We have to admit that we are mortals and we will not be there tomorrow. It is important to delegate different components of a day to facilitate an outcome. 

Optimize, and try to solve only one or two problems at a time. Don’t feel that you have to overhaul everything at the same time. It’s impossible. Just make a short punch list of things that need to be tooled or retooled and do them one at a time. 

We have 168 hours in a week. Near one-third of that will be lost in sleep. The remaining 112 hours. Try to identify tasks in daily chores that are consuming your time. Too much email checking, for example. Eliminate them. If you can’t eliminate them, minimize them. Every hour is interconnected. Balance one other will nourish more. Everything else lifts. The best is to eliminate unproductive chores and then do just one thing at a time.

You have taken the decision. Move forward.

File permissions might not be the most exciting part of running a WordPress site, but they’re absolutely essential. They control who can access, modify, or execute files on your server—essentially dictating who has power over your site.

If you’ve never tinkered with file permissions before, don’t worry. It’s a straightforward process, but one that can have big consequences if misconfigured. Whether you’re troubleshooting errors, tightening security, or simply curious, understanding how file permissions work in WordPress will give you greater control over your website. Let’s break it down.

What Are File Permissions, and Why Do They Matter?

In simple terms, file permissions determine who can read, write, and execute files and directories. Since WordPress runs on a Unix-based system, these permissions follow a standard format:

• Read (r): The ability to open and view the contents of a file or list the contents of a directory.
• Write (w): Allows modification—editing, deleting, or creating files.
• Execute (x): Lets you run a file as a script or navigate into a directory.

Every file and folder on your server has a three-digit permission code that represents access levels for:

1. The owner (you, the site administrator)
2. Users in the same group
3. The general public (everyone else)

Each permission type has a numerical value:

• Read = 4
• Write = 2
• Execute = 1

These values add up to determine permission levels. For example:

• 777 (Full access for everyone—not recommended!)
• 744 (Owner has full control, others can only read)
• 644 (Owner can read and write, others can only read)
• 444 (Read-only for all users)

Understanding these numbers is key to setting the right levels for different parts of your WordPress site.

Best Practices: Setting WordPress File Permissions

Getting file permissions right is a balancing act. Set them too loose, and you open yourself up to security risks. Too restrictive, and your site might not function properly. Here are the optimal settings for WordPress files and directories:

• WordPress Folders: 755 (Full access for the owner, read/execute for others)
• WordPress Files: 644 (Read/write for the owner, read-only for others)
• wp-config.php: 440 (Read-only for the owner and group, no access for the public)
• .htaccess: 444 (Read-only for everyone to prevent unauthorized changes)

Most web hosts configure these automatically, but if you ever need to adjust them manually, follow the steps below.

How to Change WordPress File Permissions (In 3 Steps)

You’ll need an FTP client like FileZilla to modify file permissions. Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Connect to Your Website via FTP

Open FileZilla and enter your FTP credentials (usually found in your hosting control panel). Once connected, locate your WordPress root directory—it’s typically named public_html, www, or something similar.

Step 2: Set Permissions for Directories

1. Find the wp-content, wp-admin, and wp-includes folders.
2. Right-click on one of them and choose File Permissions.
3. Enter 755 as the numeric value.
4. Check Recurse into subdirectories and select Apply to directories only.
5. Click OK.

This ensures that directories remain accessible but secure.

Step 3: Set Permissions for Files

1. Select all files in the root directory (excluding wp-config.php and .htaccess).
2. Right-click and open File Permissions.
3. Enter 644 as the numeric value.
4. Select Recurse into subdirectories and choose Apply to files only.
5. Click OK.

For extra security, manually set wp-config.php to 440 and .htaccess to 444.

Once done, double-check a few files to confirm the changes applied correctly. If your site behaves strangely afterward, recheck your permissions—misconfigurations can sometimes break functionality.

Final Thoughts

File permissions may seem like a small detail, but they play a crucial role in securing your WordPress site. A simple misstep—like setting 777 permissions—can leave your website vulnerable to hackers and malware. By following best practices and adjusting settings as needed, you can keep your site safe while ensuring everything runs smoothly.

If you’re unsure about making changes, consult your hosting provider. Many managed WordPress hosts optimize file permissions automatically, so you may not need to tweak them at all. Still, having this knowledge in your toolkit will help you troubleshoot issues and take control of your website’s security.

Need a quick refresher? Here’s a recap: ✔️ Connect to your site via FTP. ✔️ Set directories to 755. ✔️ Set files to 644. ✔️ Lock down wp-config.php (440) and .htaccess (444).

With these steps, you’ll have a secure, well-configured WordPress installation. Happy website managing! 🚀