Plain Hookshttps://www.shiftthis.net/WordPress problems, solved plainlyLightweight visitor statistics for WordPress: options without the bloathttps://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-mint-stats-plugin/https://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-mint-stats-plugin/2026-10-15How to count visitors on a WordPress site without a heavy analytics suite: privacy-friendly plugins, self-hosted Matomo, hosted alternatives and server logs compared.Custom login URLs and login links in WordPress: what they do and don't protecthttps://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-url-login-plugin/https://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-url-login-plugin/2026-10-11Moving the WordPress login page to a custom address, redirecting users after login, and passwordless login links: how each works, and the security trade-offs.Locking WordPress down: login lockouts and maintenance modehttps://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-lock-out-plugin/https://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-lock-out-plugin/2026-10-07Two kinds of lock-out for WordPress: limiting failed login attempts against brute-force attacks, and closing the site to visitors during maintenance without hurting SEO.Image captions in WordPress: blocks, the Media Library and theme templateshttps://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-image-captions-plugin/https://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-image-captions-plugin/2026-10-03How captions work in WordPress: caption versus alt text, adding captions in the Image block and Media Library, styling them, and showing captions in templates.WordPress thumbnail and image sizes: settings, custom sizes and regenerationhttps://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-thumbnail-size-plugin/https://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-thumbnail-size-plugin/2026-09-29Which image sizes WordPress creates on upload, how to change thumbnail dimensions, register custom sizes, regenerate existing images and avoid wasted disk space.Ordering WordPress pages: the Order attribute, menus and drag-and-drophttps://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-order-pages-plugin/https://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-order-pages-plugin/2026-09-22How WordPress decides the order of pages, how to set it with the Order attribute, navigation menus or drag-and-drop, and how to sort page lists in code.WordPress and Gmail SMTP: app passwords, OAuth and sending limitshttps://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress/2006/wordpress-smtp-plugin-gmail-compatible/https://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress/2006/wordpress-smtp-plugin-gmail-compatible/2026-09-15How to send WordPress email through a Gmail or Google Workspace account today: server settings, app passwords, OAuth, the Workspace SMTP relay, limits and pitfalls.Sending a newsletter from WordPress: plugins, services and the rules to followhttps://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-newsletter-plugin/https://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-newsletter-plugin/2026-09-08How to run an email newsletter from a WordPress site today: in-site plugins versus email services, double opt-in, unsubscribe rules, and sender authentication.The messenger add-on era: multi-login loaders, patches and the end of Yahoo! Messengerhttps://www.shiftthis.net/shifty.htmhttps://www.shiftthis.net/shifty.htm2026-09-05A short history of the third-party add-ons built for Yahoo! Messenger, AIM and MSN Messenger in the 2000s, why they existed, and what happened to the networks they extended.Sending WordPress email through SMTP: why mail goes missing and how to fix ithttps://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-swift-smtp-plugin/https://www.shiftthis.net/wordpress-swift-smtp-plugin/2026-09-02Why WordPress emails disappear or land in spam, how wp_mail() works, and how to route site mail through an authenticated SMTP server or sending service.