Level Up

A collection of resources for WordPress Developers, written and curated by experts

Recent Posts

Using JavaScript FileReader to Upload Large Files in Chunks and Avoid Server Limits

If you’ve spent any amount of time messing with PHP config files to get a file to upload, you know that uploading large files can be a real pain. You…

Matt Shaw

Nov 25, 2023

Handling AJAX Requests in WordPress: WP REST API vs admin-ajax.php vs Must-Use Plugin

The WordPress REST API was merged into WordPress core in version 4.7. Before that, developers relied on the default AJAX implementation, otherwise known as admin-ajax after the /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php file that…

Matt Shaw

Oct 17, 2023

How To Set Up Amazon SES for WordPress Emails

Running a site that sends a lot of emails, like an ecommerce or membership site, needs a reliable service to keep up with that volume. Using an existing email provider…

Matt Shaw

Jul 20, 2023

WordPress, Spam Filtering, and You: From SPF to DKIM to Blocklists

There is no one key to making sure WordPress site emails are sent reliably and stay out of the recipient’s spam folder. A common recommendation is to use a dedicated…

Matt Shaw

Nov 1, 2022

Exploring Email Tracking With Amazon SES and CloudWatch

Every WordPress site has to send emails, but there’s no built-in tracking for them. This makes it impossible to know if your emails are being opened and clicked or just…

Matt Shaw

Oct 5, 2022

How to Switch Your WordPress Site from HTTP to HTTPS

Just about every WordPress website should be served over HTTPS instead of HTTP, for reasons of both security and SEO. HTTP content isn’t encrypted, leaving your site vulnerable, and Google…

Matt Shaw

Aug 10, 2022

The State of HTML Email in WordPress in 2022

One question that I’ve been asked a few times while working on WP Offload SES is how it handles HTML email. By default, WordPress sends out all emails as plain…

Matt Shaw

Oct 27, 2021

Amazon SES vs SendGrid vs Mailgun vs Sendinblue: Pricing, Features, and WordPress Plugin Quality

It’s no secret that we love Amazon SES – we released a plugin that specifically helps you set it up on your WordPress site. But it’s also worth looking at…

Matt Shaw

Feb 9, 2021

MailPoet and WordPress Newsletter Plugins vs Mailchimp and Drip in 2021

There are many options when it comes to sending out email newsletters for your WordPress site. You can choose from dozens of plugins or dedicated services like Mailchimp or Drip.…

Matt Shaw

Jan 28, 2021

Switching to Windows for Local WordPress Development

As you may have noticed from reading our blog, we’ve highly favored Mac and Linux for WordPress development. And we’re not alone – through my very scientific and thorough research,…

Matt Shaw

Oct 15, 2020