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WordPress 6.4 “Shirley” is here

On November 7, 2023, WordPress introduced its third major update of the year — WordPress 6.4, affectionately named "Shirley" in honor of the jazz virtuoso Shirley Horn. Inspired by Shirley's musical finesse, this new version blends sophistication with usability. Bringing you a new default theme, major enhancements and many new features for a better, more seamless website creation experience. Let’s take a look at what’s new with WordPress 6.4.
As usual, if you have a complex website that uses several plugins, we recommend waiting at least a few weeks before upgrading to 6.4. Major upgrades may break some plugins/themes.

What’s new with WordPress 6.4?

WordPress 6.4 arrives with exciting updates that make building your website easier than ever. Expect improved templates that make designing your site straightforward, enhanced writing tools for effortless creation of content, and expanded features that empower you with greater creative control. Whether you're building your first website without any coding knowledge or you’re a seasoned developer who builds websites from scratch, WordPress 6.4 makes the process more user-friendly and efficient. Let’s unpack all this…

Twenty Twenty-Four: A sexy new default theme

WordPress 6.4 welcomes Twenty Twenty-Four as its new default theme, and we love it at WHC! This versatile and adaptable theme is designed to meet diverse needs, offering more than 35 templates and patterns ideal for bloggers, artists, and business owners. Curious? Experience how flexible the theme is on the live demo website. Switch through different site demos for Entrepreneurs, Bloggers and Photographers in the top right menu to see how Twenty Twenty-Four can transform to suit different website styles. Try it for yourself or get a visual feel of Twenty Twenty Four below. Screenshot of the new Twenty Twenty-Four WordPress theme

An easier writing process

WordPress 6.4 smooths out the writing process with several bug fixes and Core Editor Improvements like new keyboard shortcuts, smarter list integrations, and refined hyperlink controls. The updated toolbar for Navigation, List, and Quote Blocks streamlines your workflow, making content creation more efficient and enjoyable. Screenshot of the new toolbar in WordPress

A more intuitive Command Palette

The Command Palette is a powerful tool that first appeared in WordPress 6.3. It accelerates your building process, allowing you to find features swiftly and apply block-specific actions with ease. In this version, the Command Palette has been revamped with a sleek design and additional commands. You can find the command palette at the top of the Site Editor. Or simply press either ⌘+k on your Mac, or CTRL+K on your Windows keyboard. Screenshot of the refreshed Command Palette in WordPress

Create, organize and filter Patterns

Patterns allow you to copy/paste beautiful pre-designed layouts to any WordPress site. The power of patterns is unleashed further in WordPress 6.4, allowing you to categorize and filter them effortlessly. Find the perfect pattern with ease, thanks to the advanced filtering options in the inserter. Screenshot of the Site Editor's patterns in WordPress

More design tools

WordPress 6.4 brings new design tools to improve your website’s look. Add background pictures to sections for special effects and use placeholders to keep image sizes just right. Also, you can now easily add buttons to menus without needing to code.

Additional Features

  • Better performance: This update boosts speed with over 100 performance improvements. Key upgrades enhance theme loading, smarter script handling, and optimized data fetching for a smoother experience.
  • Enhanced accessibility: Every release is committed to making WordPress accessible to everyone, and this one does not disappoint: List View updates, Navigation block labels, better admin UI button positioning, and clearer Site Health announcements.
  • Images that stand out: Lightbox functionality means that your visitors can now enjoy full-screen, interactive images in one click.
  • Streamline Group Blocks: Easily rename Group blocks, like "Hero Area," to tidy up and track content sections in List View. multiple blocks, and an interface that’s now embedded into the title bar.
  • Quick Image Previews: Spot images swiftly with new previews for Gallery and Image blocks directly in List View.
  • Portable Patterns: Transfer your custom patterns between sites with ease using the JSON import/export feature in the Site Editor.
  • Dynamic Block Placement: This one will make developers’ lives easier with the ability to insert blocks dynamically with Block Hooks, offering site-wide block management while maintaining user control over content.
  • PHP support: PHP 8.1 or 8.2 are recommended for use with WordPress 6.4
Curious to learn more? Check out the official 6.4 release notes for additional info about this release.

Upgrading to WordPress 6.4

WordPress 6.4 is available on our Web Hosting and Managed WordPress plans.
If you have a complex website that uses several plugins, we recommend holding off for a few weeks before upgrading, as major upgrades may break some plugins/themes. When you’re ready to upgrade, you can do so from either your WordPress dashboard or cPanel. See Manually Update WordPress and WordPress Plugins for more information. If you use one of our Pro Managed WordPress plans, you can create a staging site to test out the new version. This will create a copy of your live website in a separate staging environment for testing (that won’t affect your production site).
Ensure you have a working backup before making any changes. This way, you can quickly revert to your previous installation if any problems occur.

Until next time

We hope this article gave you some insight into the exciting new changes WordPress 6.4 brings. Want to see what’s coming ahead in future versions? Check out what’s planned for 6.5! If you have any questions about how the upgrade may affect you, reach out to our friendly support team. We’ll be happy to assist!
GPTW-2023-2024

WHC is a Great Place to Work®… once again!

We're thrilled to announce that WHC has been certified as a Great Place to Work… for the 4th year in a row! 

And this doesn’t happen overnight – it's the result of a consistent commitment to fostering an uplifting and empowering workplace and prioritizing the well-being of our employees. Let us take a few minutes to explain the secret sauce of how WHC achieves this year after year.

What is GPTW

Great Place to Work® evaluates companies based on five criteria: Credibility, Respect, Pride, Fairness and Camaraderie. Employees fill out a Trust Index survey and based on those results and benchmark comparisons, organizations are certified and recognized for creating positive work environments.

The WHC Culture

At the heart of our success is a vibrant and inclusive company culture. We believe that a workplace should be more than just a space to get work done. It should be a place where employees feel valued, supported, and connected. And it should be fun!

Our commitment to nurturing this culture is reflected in the following ways:

  • Transparency: We maintain open lines of communication, ensuring our team is informed about company developments, goals, and challenges.
  • Inclusivity: We champion diversity and inclusivity, fostering an environment where everyone's unique perspectives and backgrounds are respected and celebrated.
  • Work-Life Balance: We understand the importance of a healthy work-life balance. We offer flexible schedules and remote work options, allowing employees to balance their professional and personal lives effectively.
  • Wellness Programs: We have an Employee Wellness Program that allows employees to leverage whatever equipment, experiences, or professionals and allow them to take some time for self-care.
  • Work-from-Anywhere: WHC allows employees to choose between working from the cozy and bright office or anywhere else that suits them best!
  • Thursday brunch at the Office: Every Thursday morning, our team gathers at the Montreal office to eat bagels (a Montréal staple) and we share anecdotes about our week that was.

The WHC Team

At WHC, we recognize that our employees are our most valuable asset. And their well-being is paramount. We go the extra mile to ensure they are happy and healthy. Curious to see the folks behind WHC? A video speaks volumes: 

Celebrating 20 years of WHC

Recently, we got the Canadian team together for a weekend in the Laurentians to celebrate our biggest milestone yet: 20 years in business! 

We're more than just a company; we're a lively and diverse group who believe work should be fun. Our vibrant workplace culture goes beyond the office. For us, it’s important to involve our team every step of the way and cherish individual milestones and celebrations as well. 

Great Place To Work - Today and Tomorrow

We're honored to be recognized as a Great Place to Work®, and remain committed to maintaining and enhancing our exceptional workplace environment. We look forward to reaching even greater heights in the future, together. Explore career opportunities at WHC and join us for an amazing journey!

SOC 2 Type 1 Certified

SOC 2 Certification for WHC: Elevating Your Online Security

We have some exciting news to share, and while it’s a proud moment for our team, it’s really all about YOU, our valued clients. 

In September 2023, WHC achieved the SOC 2 Type 1 certification. 

Let’s delve into why this certification should matter to every business and entrepreneur who trusts us with their online services.

What is SOC 2 Type 1 Certification

Service Organization Control (SOC) 2 is a rigorous auditing standard developed by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). This certification ensures that a service provider can securely manage and protect customer data. The Type 1 aspect of this certification verifies that our controls are designed effectively to meet these rigorous standards, as evaluated by an external auditor.

This approach also reinforces our continued alignment with other compliance standards in Canada, such as PIPEDA, CASL, and Quebec’s Law 25.

How This Certification Benefits You

  • Top-tier Security: With the SOC 2 Type 1 certification, you can rest easy knowing that your data, websites, and applications are in an environment that meets some of the industry's strictest security criteria.
  • Audited Compliance: Enterprise clients may have specific security compliance requirements requiring them to host their data within Canada and with providers backed with audited security certifications.
  • Consistent Service Reliability: This certification isn't just about protecting data. It’s about ensuring service availability and performance. In simpler terms, fewer downtimes, optimized website speeds, and smoother operations for your online platforms.
  • Improved Trust: Trust is paramount when choosing a service provider. Our SOC 2 Type 1 status serves as a badge of assurance, a tangible sign of our dedication to prioritizing your data's safety and the integrity of our services.
  • A Boost for Your Business: For many clients, showcasing security can be a competitive differentiator in their respective markets. By partnering with a SOC 2 certified provider like WHC, you’re demonstrating to your own customers and stakeholders that you’re serious about data security and integrity. 

Next Steps for SOC 2 Compliance at WHC

Achieving the SOC 2 Type 1 certification is a significant milestone, but our commitment to your data’s security doesn't end here. We always aim to elevate our standards, and in line with this commitment, WHC is now in the SOC 2 Type 2 evaluation period. 

While the Type 1 audit focuses on the design of controls at a specific point in time, a Type 2 audit dives deeper, evaluating the operational effectiveness of those controls over a defined review period. By this same time next year, we hope to update our certification credentials to further validate our unyielding dedication to maintaining the highest standards in data security and system reliability for you.

At the end of the day, this certification underscores our commitment to you. Every decision we make and every standard we achieve is driven by our dedication to providing you with the best. 

With the SOC 2 Type 1 certification, we aim to offer you not just a service, but peace of mind.

Thank you for your continued trust and partnership.

5 Actions for SEO

5 things you can do right now to improve your site’s SEO

You've probably already heard of SEO, or search engine optimization. And you probably want your site to be more visible in search engines, too. But where do you start?

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It's a set of techniques designed to improve a website's visibility in search engine results, and can be done without having to spend a penny.

The aim of SEO is to attract the right people to your site, in response to their search and their desired criteria.

All this may seem complex, but don't worry; once you get the hang of it, things become automatic and run much more smoothly.

For now, though, here are 5 things you can do to improve your SEO.

1. Add titles and meta description tags

First of all, the ‘Title’ tag is really important, as it describes the content of a page you're visiting. For example, the title of this article is very clear, telling you exactly what you're about to read.

This is also the tag that will appear first in a site's description on a search engine.

What's more, when you share a web page on social media, the title of the page is often used as the title of the shared link. A catchy title can therefore increase the chances that people will click on the link.

A ‘Meta Description’ tag, on the other hand, provides a very concise, informative description of a page's content. This description will be displayed just below the page title in search engine results.

How do you add these two tags to your pages?

First of all, we highly recommend that you install or get access to an SEO tool such as rankingCoach or Yoast SEO (the latter has a very decent free version on offer). Both these tools can help you determine whether your Title and Meta Description tags are properly optimized. All you have to do is fill in the relevant fields, and you're done!

2. Share content on social networks

The optimization of your website's visibility on social networks is a key strategy, and one that cannot be neglected.

How can you make your site visible on social networks? If you've already written articles for your site, you could select those most likely to appeal to your subscribers and share the links to these articles with your community. You can even schedule posts in advance to ensure a steady flow of content over the coming weeks.

Sharing such articles will not only attract traffic to your site, but also improve your SEO. More visitors to your site sends the message that your site is interesting and can attract visitors, which will yield higher search engine rankings.

What is a permalink? Commonly referred to as a URL, a permalink is a unique hypertext link that points to fixed content on the web. In other words, it's a fixed link that won't change, even if the site's main address does. For example, the article you're reading has a permalink that will remain unchanged regardless of WHC's URL.

It’s a good idea to keep URLs easily accessible. Ideally, the nomenclature of the article or page in question should be retained. Try to avoid categories, dates or archive links when adjusting permalinks.

This is easy to do in WordPress. All you have to do is edit the permalinks to specify that you only wish to integrate the name of the article or page in the URL. 

WordPress example
Please note: these changes could have an impact on your search engine visibility. 

An internal link points to another part of your website. An external link, on the other hand, points to another website.

Unsurprisingly, a good internal linking strategy will improve your SEO. You can go around your website right now, reread your texts and set up links between your pages and articles.

For example, let's say one of your blog posts is about family outings. You remember writing an article about an adventure you had at the movies. It would be clever to link to this article. The text could go like this:

Going to the movies is also a great family activity, at least when there aren't too many mishaps.

The link to the article could be integrated into the underlined part of the sentence. This is called an internal link.

WordPress example
In this excerpt, an internal link has been integrated, taking the reader to an article about “9 business ideas for 2023,” which we distributed at the beginning of the year. 

5. Update your articles and pages

Search engines notice and favor pages and sites that are alive, on which there's lots of stuff happening.

As mentioned in the previous step, why not take advantage of your internal links revision to update a few pages or articles? Has any information changed? Could you possibly integrate a few external links as well?

If you're comfortable with it, you could even use AI content writing tools to enhance some of your posts. Just make sure to double-check the texts proposed by the AI!

Patience is the key to better SEO

In short, improving your website's SEO may seem like a complex task at first; however, by following a few simple steps, you can increase your site's visibility in search engine results significantly.

We've singled out these five tips, but of course, there are many other little things you can do to improve your SEO. It's also important to avoid practices that could harm it!

To take your SEO optimization a step further, we've put together an SEO Guide for Beginners, which is divided into a series of articles.

So, don't forget that patience is also a virtue in the world of SEO. Results aren't always immediate, but with a consistent – and persistent – strategy, you'll gradually see your site gain online visibility.

Protect your social

4 tips to stay safe on social media

With 4.7 billion users worldwide, social networks have become a part of our lives. However, while these platforms are a place for sharing photos, videos, opinions and views, they are also a target for cybercriminals. This is why everyone needs to take charge of their safety on social networks, whether it involves their personal or business accounts. 

Be security conscious on social networks

In 2022, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre documented losses of $530 million, and contrary to what you might think, these security incidents targeted not only personal accounts, but also 21% of Canadian businesses. Parc Safari, for example, had its Facebook page hacked and plastered with adult content. Over the years, cybercriminals have perfected their methods, which include phishing, psychological hacking, privacy breaches and the use of malware

To find out more about how to protect yourself against malware and phishing, click here.

Psychological hacking: the practice of extracting confidential information by manipulating users. A hacker often uses the telephone or the Internet to trick individuals into providing personal information. Phishing is a form of psychological hacking.

Use strong passwords

It's important not to choose passwords that are too simple, such as the name of your pet or your children. They can be easily guessed by a hacker. Choose passphrases instead, such as "iMeatinGagreeNapplE14!". Not only are they more memorable, they're also more difficult to decipher.

To strengthen the security of your social networking and online accounts, you can also consider a unique password. In fact, one effective technique is to take a memorable phrase like "I hate accounting" and use the first letters of each word to form the basis of your password. In this example, that would be "iha". Then add numbers, special characters and capital letters to increase the complexity of your password.

Also, avoid using the same password for all your accounts, in case one of them is compromised. To help you keep track, use a password manager like LastPass or 1password.

Enable two-factor authentication 

Most social networks now offer two-factor authentication, providing an extra level of security in the event your password is compromised. This method relies on elements that are unique to you:

  • What you know: a PIN, a password or a security question.
  • What you own: your phone. A random code can be sent to you by SMS or generated in the Google Authentificator app.
  • Who you are: your fingerprints, your face, your eyes or your voice.

If your password is compromised, it's essential to quickly change the passwords on all your accounts. In addition, always lock your smartphone with a password to prevent unauthorized access to your data in the event of loss or theft.

Optimize privacy and control settings

You can customize the privacy settings on your social network accounts in order to better control who can see your information. Default settings often grant greater access than necessary. It's important to understand these settings and adjust them accordingly. Take Facebook, for example, where you can determine the following:

  • Who can view your mentions, likes and comments
  • Who can access your friends list
  • Who can see your photos
  • Etc.

There's also a lot of personal information about subscribers on social networks: the names of their friends and family members, how they spend their vacations and the content of their personal messages. It's important to understand how social networks use this information.

As a company, be sure to appoint trusted administrators to manage your business pages on social networks. This will avoid potential problems. Also, remember that you can limit and define access levels according to individual roles and responsibilities; this includes removing access when someone leaves the company or is no longer mandated to manage social network accounts.

Protect your personal information

Even with all these precautions, you can never be 100% sure about people’s identity online. Also, be very wary of requests from strangers – take the time to verify the authenticity of their accounts. If you’re a company, you should also check the authenticity of your subscribers' accounts.

It is essential never to disclose the following:

  • Personal information such as your address, telephone number, e-mail address, date of birth, SIN, passport, place of work or the school your child attends.
  • Banking and financial information such as the name of your banking institution, your financial situation, or your credit card number – even in private messaging.
  • Geotagged photos, as they usually contain automatic location information. To protect your privacy, you have the choice of deleting the geolocation data before publishing the photo. Alternatively, you can decide to disable the geolocation function in your mobile device settings.
  • Images revealing personal information, such as a photo with your address or the name of a street in the background, a license plate number, or details of your activities, such as a plane trip or vacation.

On the other hand, as a business, it's acceptable to share certain elements and geolocations to promote your activities. However, it's essential to carefully filter what you share. Make sure you don't reveal any information that could jeopardize your business, your employees or your assets.

Unfortunately, thousands of people have their accounts hacked every day. A recent example is François Lambert, a respected Canadian businessman. In July 2023, his Facebook page was hacked after a Zoom meeting with a bogus representative. The hackers took advantage of this interaction and used malware to steal his passwords. This resulted in financial losses as well as a loss of trust within his community.

Use social networks responsibly

In closing, it is essential to use social networks responsibly. Remain vigilant and update your privacy settings regularly, as platform policies evolve. Before clicking on a link, check in with yourself and check its source. And of course, don't hesitate to share this article with others who might benefit from it.

Finally, don't shy away from using social networks - they're powerful tools, when used responsibly.