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GPLWP Guides

Right. How do I actually do that?

Step-by-step guides for the jobs WordPress makes harder than they should be — and the tools that do them for you when you would rather not.

Guides
326
Steps written
1,912
Tools compared
328
Topics
20

Latest guides

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How to create a creative portfolio website

You can create a creative portfolio in WordPress without a plugin by building project pages, adding image galleries, setting a static home page, and e…

1 tool
How to create a blog or magazine site in WordPress

You can create a blog or magazine site with WordPress’s built-in pages, categories, Site Editor and Query Loop blocks. The manual route works well for…

1 tool
How to create a classified ads site in WordPress

WordPress can store classified ads, but it does not provide front-end submissions, seller profiles, listing search, moderation workflows or paid ads b…

1 tool
How to add custom login forms in WordPress

You can add a basic custom login page without a plugin by placing WordPress’s built-in login form function in a page template. Use a plugin when you n…

1 tool
How to limit form submissions in WordPress

The exact steps depend on your form plugin: many builders offer a limit setting, while others need a plugin extension or custom server-side code. For…

1 tool
How to create dependent dropdowns in WordPress forms

WordPress does not provide dependent dropdowns as a general form feature. For a small fixed list, connect two select fields with JavaScript; for datab…

1 tool
How to add color pickers to WordPress forms

You can add a basic colour picker with an HTML input type="color", but your form plugin must also process and email the field value. For palettes, RGB…

1 tool
How to password-protect WooCommerce products

WooCommerce can password-protect an individual product without another plugin. For product categories, multiple shared passwords, or the whole shop, y…

1 tool
How to build a WordPress website with Elementor

To build a WordPress site with Elementor, install a compatible theme and the Elementor plugin, create your core pages, then design them with global st…

1 tool
How to create a video-sharing website with WordPress

WordPress can display uploaded or embedded videos, but it does not provide a complete YouTube-style sharing system. For user uploads, profiles, modera…

1 tool
How to create pricing tables in WordPress

You can create a basic pricing table without a plugin by building plan cards with the Columns, Group, List and Buttons blocks. For responsive comparis…

1 tool
How to build a responsive WordPress website

You can build a responsive WordPress website without a special plugin. Choose a responsive theme, use flexible block layouts, set readable typography…

1 tool

What’s in every guide

  1. The short answerWhat the answer actually is, before any steps. If the honest answer is “you need a plugin”, it says so up top.
  2. What you needThe prerequisites, so you find out about them now rather than four steps in.
  3. The stepsIncluding the manual route where one exists, with the parts that make it annoying left in.
  4. Tools that do this jobEvery product we have covered that solves this task — a list that grows as we cover more.
  5. SourcesThe documentation each step was checked against, so you can verify it yourself.

By topic

How this works

01

The job comes first, not the product

A guide is about a task you are trying to finish. Whether a product is involved is a detail, and sometimes the answer is that you do not need one.

02

The manual route stays in

Where a job can be done without installing anything, we show you how — including why it is irritating. A tutorial that opens with “install this plugin” is an advert.

03

Guides get better with age

Several products usually do the same job. Rather than publish a page for each, we keep one guide and add each tool as we cover it. The comparison at the bottom keeps growing.