There isn’t a right answer, it all depends on your skills, on what you want to achieve with your website, your budget, and much more.

We will take a look at this question from very different points of view so you can decide to yourself what path to choose.

The pluses and minuses when using a website builder

As the industry says, website builders are being used by millions of people.

Probably most of these people are beginners that need a super basic website.

Among them are also professionals that use website builders like Webflow which is a totally different builder.

Webflow is probably the most difficult-to-use website builder, and probably the best you can use if you know web design, and you have great web development skills.

Anyway, let’s see which are the pluses and minuses of website builders.

Pluses

– Easy to use

– Plenty of themes available

– All-in-one package

– Extremely easy to set up, with just a few clicks you can create and have a live website.

– Free to use if you are ok with a subdomain.

– Affordable

– Secure

– Fast

Minuses

– If you will use a template, the biggest minus is that your website will look extremely similar to many others.

– To use all website builder features, you have to pay extra.

– The monthly fee can go up to tens of dollars.

– The design process is very limited.

– Follow the design process of the website builder and you will have a website immediately, but your website will not look and feel as you might expect.

– Website builders are great most times for creating general websites.

– Limited fonts

– Usually, it is hard to install new fonts.

– Hard to migrate the website to another platform.

There are many more good things than bad things, but before you decide if website builders are the right solution for you, you have to try them.

Try at least 3-4 website builders and see how they work, and how much they cost.

A $30 fee per month maybe is not so much but when you calculate the annual cost, for 2 years, for example, you will find out that the total cost is $720.

If you use WordPress, your cost in 2 years might be just the hosting, around $100 or even less.

Now let’s discuss WordPress

WordPress is the most popular CMS platform in the world for good reasons.

The platform has lots of advantages.

Pluses

– Free to use.

– Very simple to use, even for beginners, and first-time users.

– Fast

– Secure

– SEO-friendly

– Great for any kind of website and landing page.

– Page builders are free to install.

– Tons of free and paid plugins will add many features to your website.

– Lots of knowhows, you will easily find someone to help you with something on your website.

– Free and highly affordable templates.

– Simple to install new fonts.

– Cheap hosting

– Easily to find designers for your custom website.

– Huge potential for upgrading and growing your website.

Minuses

– I find WordPress websites quite slow when compared with websites created with website builders.

– Hackers and bad guys are constantly attacking WordPress websites, so you always have to update your WordPress CMS and plugins.

– Custom WordPress designs can cost you tons of money.

Conclusions

Both website builders and WordPress will work just fine for your business, I don’t think that you can go wrong with any of these 2.

But have in mind the associated costs, especially on the long run, and the support that is available for each solution.

The post Should you use a website builder or WordPress appeared first on WhatFontIs.com Playground.

The WordPress Google Fonts Plugin, widely used for enhancing typography, has been found vulnerable, putting over 300,000 sites at risk.

Lets delve into the details of this security breach, its potential ramifications, and the necessary steps to mitigate the threat.

Understanding the Vulnerability

The WordPress Google Fonts Plugin is a popular choice among website owners and developers seeking to integrate various fonts.

However, a recent security assessment has unearthed a vulnerability within the plugin.

This left sites exposed to potential exploitation by malicious actors.

The nature of this vulnerability allows unauthorized individuals to gain access to sensitive data.

Scope of the Threat

With the WordPress Google Fonts Plugin vulnerability impacting a staggering 300,000 sites, the scale of this threat is significant.

Websites relying on this plugin for font customization are potentially susceptible to a range of attacks:

• data breaches
• the injection of malicious code.

Given the plugin’s widespread usage, the fallout could extend beyond individual site compromises, affecting the broader WordPress ecosystem.

Potential Ramifications

The consequences of this vulnerability are multifaceted:

• Unauthorized access to sensitive data – user information and login credentials
• Injection of malicious code could lead to the distribution of malware, compromise site functionality, or redirect users to fraudulent websites.
• The reputational damage resulting from a security breach can be severe.

Mitigation Measures

In response to this critical security issue, immediate action is imperative to safeguard WordPress sites utilizing the Google Fonts Plugin. Website owners and administrators are advised to:

1. Update the Plugin: Check for available updates for the WordPress Google Fonts Plugin and apply them promptly. Developers often release security patches in response to vulnerabilities, and staying up-to-date is a crucial preventive measure.
2. Security Audits: Conduct comprehensive security audits of affected websites to identify and address any signs of unauthorized access or suspicious activities. Utilize security plugins and monitoring tools to enhance the overall protection of the site.
3. Backup Data: Regularly back up website data to mitigate the impact of a potential breach. Having recent backups ensures the ability to restore the site to a secure state in the event of a security incident.
4. Monitor Site Activity: Implement real-time monitoring to track user activities, login attempts, and any anomalous behavior. Early detection of suspicious activities allows for swift intervention before a security breach escalates.
5. Consider Alternatives: If the security concerns persist or if the plugin’s developers fail to address the vulnerability promptly, website owners may need to explore alternative font customization solutions to mitigate risks.

Conclusion

The revelation of the WordPress Google Fonts Plugin vulnerability serves as a stark reminder of the constant need for vigilance in the digital landscape.

Website owners and administrators must prioritize cybersecurity, promptly addressing vulnerabilities to protect their sites and the trust of their users. As the WordPress community rallies to address and resolve this issue, the collective effort to fortify online platforms against evolving threats remains paramount.

The post Huge WordPress Google Fonts Plugin Vulnerability appeared first on WhatFontIs.com Playground.

The whole world has now a super powerful competitor in the website creation niche.

The custom website that WordPress.com will make you is not free, of course, the price starts at $4,900. If you think about, it is not so much.

If you worked with companies and freelancers to get yourself some great websites, you probably know the prices.

And $4,900 is not a high price at all, especially taking into consideration that WordPress.com will create it for you. The company Automattic created WordPress and tens of other projects – tumblr, WooCommerce, Gravatar, Akismet, Jetpack, and many others.

Working with professionals is very different than working with all kind of freelancers and companies.

Don’t get me wrong, there are very nice freelancers out there and serious companies, but you need to know how to find them. If not, your project will be handled by people that just want your money.

It happened to me, here is a short story.

The story of working with a freelancer for my new website

I needed a professional website for my agency and knowing all the advantages of Webflow, I decided that the website will be on this platform.

So, I started to search a good company or freelancer for this project. First, I asked a couple of friends that have huge businesses in the online, if they can recommend me a serious and professional person or company.

They said no, they worked with lots of companies and people, and they were never happy with the results.

So, I decided to give it a try on Upwork.

Long story short, I hired a person from Upwork, a guy with tens of 5 starts review. Everybody was saying that this person is awesome, that he is very serious, that he overdelivers, that his website creation is magic, and so on.

I told myself that everything will be perfect with him.

But it wasn’t perfect

After he took my project and started working, he told me that I need to increase the budget 20% to work with him. I said ok, the guy is awesome.

In just a few words, the whole collaboration was a nightmare. He needed 3 months to finish my simple agency website, even if I always quickly provided him all the materials, content, and answers for his questions.

He asked me tens of questions and he put me complete several pages of business projections and in the end, he used nothing.

The guy wanted just to be a professional and tax me for all kind of things.

He managed to create me a super basic website that is not bad looking but for $4,000, I would have expected much more.

If the WordPress.com custom website service would have been available 1 year ago, I would gladly have paid them $4,900. I am absolutely sure that the result would have been 10 times better.

Let’s find out more about this service.

Everything we know about WordPress.com custom website service

Here is what we know about this service.

• It is named “Built by WordPress.com”.

• The service will create you a professional and custom website.

• Prices start at $4,900.

• There are 3 different plans:

Online Stores

Education Sites

Professional Services

• You will work with a dedicated manager throughout the duration of a project. He will make sure that your vision comes to life in the form you want.

• The service is just starting so the space is currently limited. Submit your application asap.

The implications of Built by WordPress.com custom website service

There are some strong implications of this new service.

WordPress.com will take a big bite of freelancers and companies market share. Many customers will probably prefer to work with WordPress.com, so other companies and people will lose good business.

I bet that many people are not so happy with this move.

Conclusions

It is awesome to work directly with the team behind WordPress for a fully customized website.

My next website will be created with the Built by WordPress.com service and I will share with you my thoughts. It will be a full article about how the projects worked with them.

Stay tuned. 

The post WordPress.com Will Create You A Custom Website appeared first on WhatFontIs.com Playground.