WordPress Website Architecture – Become a Ninja in 15 minutes

WordPress is the most widely used blogging platform and I have been using it for the last couple of years. Though it is an awesome CMS but then like any other CMS is prone to errors and bugs. I have faced several issues with wordpress over the years and have documented solutions to the issues which pop up time and again so that I don’t need to search each and every forum on the web or consult a developer every time I encounter an issue. By the time you will end up reading this post, you should have a better great understanding of the technical side of wordpress which will help you a lot.

Understand WordPress Site Architecture

Half of the wordpress optimization battle is won if we know what we are doing in the first place and understand its consequences. Therefore it is imperative to understand how a wordpress site works and is structured. Without this knowledge you will have a hard time troubleshooting any wordpress issue.

Every wordpress installation comes with a default theme. You can either use this theme or you can use a custom theme. In either case , the theme consist of template files, style sheet files, javascript files, image files and some other files like functions.php. All these files work together to create the design and functionality of your wordpress website. All the wordpress themes’ files live in the folder: /wp-content/themes/. For e.g. all the files associate with the theme named ‘mystique’ resides in the folder: /wp-content/themes/mystique/

Template files are PHP files (.php) which are used to generate web pages and which makes customization possible in wordpress. The more template files your theme has, the more customization you can do. Some template files are used on all the web pages (like header and footer template file), while others are used only under specific conditions. WordPress decides which template files to load when, according to the template hierarchy rules.

Note: The actual name of a template file can vary depending upon the theme you are using.

Understand the functionality of the most common template files used in wordpress

Following are some commonly used template files which you must be aware of:

Understand the important wordpress Site Files

These are the files which are unique to a particular wordpress installation and contain all your website data:

Now let us move to the advanced stuff, the practical side of things. How this knowledge can be used to troubleshoot wordpress issues. Here I present to you the most common wordpress issues which I have encountered over the years and how I dealt with them:

Issue #1- How to fix ‘error establishing a database connection’ in wordpress?

This error occurs when you change your database password but do not update your wp-config.php file or vice versa.
Solution: If you change your database password then you also need to update your wp-config.php file (which is located in the root directory /html in FTP file manager). If you don’t update your wp-config.php file then you will get the error message ‘error establishing a database connection’.  Open your ‘wp-config.php’ file via FTP and locate the section that looks like this example:

/* The name of the database for WordPress */
define(‘DB_NAME’, ‘putyourdbnamehere’);
/* MySQL database username /
define(‘DB_USER’, ‘usernamehere’);
/* MySQL database password /
define(‘DB_PASSWORD’, ‘yourpasswordhere’); <=Update your password
/* MySQL hostname */
define(‘DB_HOST’, ‘localhost’);

Issue #2 : How to fix the error: “It looks like this is a web page, not a feed”

I have got this error several times so far. This error usually occurs when permalinks stop working properly.
Solution: To make the permalinks work again: Go to your wordpress admin panel > Settings > Permalinks > click on ‘save changes’ button.

Issue #3: RSS feed is showing only one item

Solution- Make sure that the feed URL (like http://www.seotakeaways.com/feed/) is correct. If the feed URL is correct but still your feed is showing only one item, then make sure that your feed is a valid feed via feedvalidator.com

Issue #4: WordPress plugin doesn’t work and you can’t remove it through admin panel

Solution- You need to remove the wordpress plug-in via your FTP. Follow the steps below:

1. Access the FTP of your website
2. Locate the folder ‘wp-content’
3. Look for the folder ‘plugins’ and then open it.
4. Select the plugin folder you want to delete and then right click on it.
5. Choose ‘delete’ from the drop down menu.

Issue #5: You can’t fix the issue with your current wordpress theme & can’t remove it via your admin panel

Solution- You need to remove the wordpress theme via your FTP. Follow the steps below:

1. Access the FTP of your website
2. Locate the folder ‘wp-content’
3. Look for the folder ‘themes’ and then open it.
4. Select the theme folder you want to delete and then right click on it.
5. Choose ‘delete’ from the drop down menu.

Issue #6: Optimizing the speed of your wordpress site

Solution: There are lots of things you can do to optimize the speed of your wordpress site. But it can be really time consuming. So if you are short of time and you just want a switch which can dramatically improve the speed of your website then install the W3 Total Cache Plugin. It is one of the highest rated and most useful wordpress plug-in ever developed. It can dramatically improve your website speed.

Issue #7: Optimizing pages of your wordpress website for SEO

Solution: I have used several plug-ins for this purpose but the one which stands out all the time is the SEO Ultimate Plugin. This all-in-one SEO plug-in gives you control over title tags, meta tags, canonical, 404 errors, rich snippets and tons of other wordpress features.

Issue #8: Removing malware from your wordpress website

Solution: This is one of the most common and serious issue we wordpress users face. Here is what I do to keep my website malware free:

1. Use code gaurd. This tool keeps track of all the changes made to your website. If it notice that the change in code (like changes to the .htaccess file) can harm the normal functioning of the website, then it sends you an alert. It takes hourly, daily and monthly back up of your website.

2. Always keep your wordpress version, plugins and them up to date. Upgrade to the latest version. Every new version comes with a security patch and make your website more secure.

3. Take weekly back up of your website.

4. Be cautious while installing a plug-in or a theme. Sometimes plug-ins/themes contain a malicious code which can harm your website.

5. Scan all your documents/softwares for malware before you make them available for download.

6. Only link out to reputed websites as some websites host malware.

7. Use only reputable advertisers as they are generally malware free.

8. Monitor user generated areas of your website like comments section. Un-moderated comments can have links to malicious websites/files.

Related Post: Malware Removal Checklist for WordPress – DIY Security Guide

Update

I am not a big fan of plug-ins because they tend to slow down a website. But there are some plug-ins which are so useful that i can’t think of running a site without them. Following is the list of must have plug-ins:

1. Akismet - It protects your blog from comment and trackback spam. Without this plugin you will be bombarded with spam sooner or later.

 2. PS Disable Auto Formatting – It disables wordpress auto formatting by disabling the function ‘auto formatting (wpautop)’ and save <p> and <br /> formatted content. You need this plug-in to get a control on your blog post formating.

 3. W3 Total Cache Plugin - It dramatically improves your website speed and is highly recommended.

 4. WP-touch – It automatically transforms your blog into an iphone application style theme. A must have plug-in if you want your visitors to read your blog through smart phones.

 5. SEO Ultimate- You need this plugin to easily optimize your wordpress site pages for SEO. Another must have plug-in.

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