The blog
Practical how-to guides for developers, designers, and WordPress users.
ToolCreek is Live: Free Tools for Developers and WordPress
Meet ToolCreek, a fast, free, browser-based toolbox for developers, designers, and WordPress users. No signup, no uploads, everything runs on your device.
How to Compare Two Texts and Find the Differences
Compare two texts and find the differences line by line in your browser. Learn to read a side-by-side diff and keep sensitive text private.
Flesch Reading Ease and Readability Scores Explained
Learn what Flesch Reading Ease and Flesch-Kincaid grade level mean, what score to aim for on web content, and how to make your writing easier to read.
How to Create an XML Sitemap and Submit It
An XML sitemap helps search engines find your pages. Learn what belongs in one, the optional tags worth using, and how to build and submit yours.
How to Set Up hreflang Tags for a Multilingual Site
hreflang tells Google which language or region version of a page to show. Learn the two rules that make it work and how to generate correct tags.
The Meta Tags Every Page Needs (and How to Generate Them)
A short, practical list of the meta tags that actually matter for SEO and social sharing, what each one does, and how to generate the full set.
How to Register a WordPress Block with block.json
block.json is the modern way to define a Gutenberg block. Learn what goes in it, how supports work, and how to register the block in one line of PHP.
How to Reset a WordPress Password from the Database
Locked out of WordPress with no working email? Here is the safe way to set a new password directly in the database using a password hash.
How to Create a Custom Taxonomy in WordPress
Custom taxonomies organize your content beyond categories and tags. Learn the difference between hierarchical and flat taxonomies and how to register one.
How to Fix Your Social Share Preview (Open Graph)
When a link looks broken on Facebook, X, or LinkedIn, the Open Graph tags are usually the cause. Learn the tags that matter and how to preview them.
How to Create a Custom Post Type in WordPress
Custom post types let WordPress manage more than posts and pages. Learn what register_post_type() needs, the options that matter, and how to generate clean code.
How to Check Color Contrast for Accessibility (WCAG)
Low-contrast text is the most common accessibility failure. Learn the WCAG contrast ratios, what AA and AAA mean, and how to check any color pair.
HEX, RGB, HSL: How to Convert Colors
What HEX, RGB, and HSL each mean, when to use which, and how to convert between them instantly. HSL in particular makes building color variations easy.
How to Test a Regular Expression Without the Guesswork
Regex is powerful but easy to get wrong. Learn a practical way to build and test patterns, the tokens you will actually use, and common mistakes to avoid.
How to Tune PHP-FPM for Your WordPress Server
PHP-FPM settings decide how many requests your site can handle at once. Learn how to size pm.max_children to your RAM without crashing under load.
What Is a UUID and When to Use One
UUIDs give you unique IDs without a central database. Learn what they are, why v4 is the common choice, and when to use one instead of a number.
How to Leverage Browser Caching in .htaccess
Fix the 'serve static assets with an efficient cache policy' warning. Set far-future cache headers for images, CSS, and JS in Apache .htaccess.
How to Test Your robots.txt Before It Costs You Traffic
One wrong line in robots.txt can hide your whole site from Google. Learn how the rules work and how to test any URL against any crawler before you ship.
Word and Character Count: A Quick Guide
Where character limits actually matter, from meta descriptions to tweets, and how to count words, characters, and reading time as you type.
How to Compress Images Without Losing Quality
Smaller images mean faster pages. Learn how image compression works, when to use WebP, and how to shrink files in your browser without visible quality loss.
How to Decode a JWT and Read What's Inside
A JWT has three parts you can read in seconds. Learn what each part holds, how to decode one safely, and why decoding is not the same as verifying.
How to Create CSS Gradients (Linear and Radial)
Build smooth CSS gradients without guessing the syntax. A quick guide to linear and radial gradients, color stops, angles, and when to use each.
URL Encoding Explained: When and How to Use It
Why spaces become %20, what gets encoded in a URL, and how to encode or decode query strings safely in your browser.
How to Set Up a Secure wp-config.php
The wp-config.php settings that matter most for WordPress security and performance: keys, table prefix, file editing, debug, and more.
How to Convert Text Case Online: camelCase, snake_case and More
Switch text between UPPERCASE, lowercase, Title Case, camelCase, snake_case, and kebab-case in your browser, and learn when each one is used.
MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256: How to Generate Hashes Online
What a hash is, the difference between MD5, SHA-1, and SHA-256, and how to generate one in your browser for checksums and integrity checks.
How to Enable Gzip Compression in .htaccess for WordPress
Fix the 'enable text compression' warning. A step-by-step guide to turning on gzip in Apache .htaccess, what to compress, and how to verify it works.
What Is Base64 and When Should You Use It
Base64 explained in plain terms: what it does, when it helps, when it hurts performance, and how to encode or decode it in your browser.
How to Create a Strong Password You Can Actually Use
Length beats complexity. A practical guide to strong passwords, why random is better than clever, and how to generate one safely in your browser.
How to Generate WordPress Security Keys and Salts
What the salts in wp-config.php actually do, when to regenerate them, and how to create fresh WordPress keys safely in your browser.
How to Format and Validate JSON Online
Beautify, minify, and validate JSON right in your browser. A quick guide to reading messy JSON and fixing the errors that break it, with no uploads.