Jetpack is a plugin made by the WordPress company that has many features, but for some it is discouraging and unnecessary. In this article we will show you its main advantages and how to configure the Jetpack of WordPress.
It's free? Is it worth paying for Jetpack?
Not! Unfortunately not! The free features offered by Jetpack are more than enough. The paid version really has almost nothing interesting to offer, paying for the jetpack is throwing money away, but if you want to do it, good luck.
As soon as we install the Jetpack plugin on our WordPress, when we activate it we come across a price list, which deceives some people thinking that the plugin is paid, but right below you have a small option to use it for free.
If the plugin's free functions were to be paid for, I would say that it is very worthwhile to pay for the plugin, but as it offers all the essentials for free, enjoy and make good use of it! In this article I will mention only the free features of the plugin.
Using Jetpack's CDN and Lazy Load
One of the main reasons I use the Jetpack Plugin is the CDN system for images and some JS and CSS. This rules out the need to use other CDN systems like CloudFlare or Image CDN systems.
Thanks to Jetpack you greatly reduce the weight that the server would have when loading your images. It manages to keep a good number of people online without overloading the site due to high requests on the server. Jetpack Photon CDN is required!
The system also offers LazyLoad, loading images by reading which also increases the page loading speed. You can use it in conjunction with a cache plugin like Hummingbird or another.
If an image is not being sent to the jetpack server, you can try using the following code in functions.php:
add_filter( 'jetpack_photon_override_image_downsize', '__return_true' );
Using the Jetpack related article system
You can use the Jetpack Related Post, which works perfectly without weighing up your server's database. It is also customizable, although it doesn't look like it. You may need a knowledge of PHP and CSS. See below how I do it:
function jetpackme_more_related_posts( $options ) {
$options['size'] = 4;
return $options;
}
add_filter( 'jetpack_relatedposts_filter_options', 'jetpackme_more_related_posts' );
//Jetpack Related Posts - changing related text and class
function jetpackme_related_posts_headline( $headline ) {
$headline = sprintf(
'<h3 class="jp-widget-title">%s</h3>',
esc_html( 'Veja nossos artigos relacionados' )
);
return $headline;
}
add_filter( 'jetpack_relatedposts_filter_headline', 'jetpackme_related_posts_headline' );Using the code above in functions.php I am able to make the Jetpack Related Post display 4 posts instead of 3. I also customize the text displayed in Related Articles. You can also make the system responsive with CSS below:
/* JetPack */
div#jp-relatedposts div.jp-relatedposts-items .jp-relatedposts-post {
width: 25%;
}
@media screen and (max-width: 650px) {
div#jp-relatedposts div.jp-relatedposts-items .jp-relatedposts-post {
width: 50%!important;
}
}
div#jp-relatedposts div.jp-relatedposts-items .jp-relatedposts-post:nth-child(3n+4),
div#jp-relatedposts div.jp-relatedposts-items-visual .jp-relatedposts-post:nth-child(3n+4) {
clear: none;
}
.jp-relatedposts-post-title {
font-size:18px!important;
text-align:center!important;
}Most pay for email marketing services to trigger their own emails, which most often fall into Spam. Why do that if Jetpack offers a free email list and free email launch with a good open rate?
For years I used Mailchimp, mautic, PHP list and other e-mail services, but I always felt a pain when sending new articles to contacts, because I didn't want to spend a lot of money on Amazon SES. Today I just opened my eyes.
With Jetpack's NewsLetter system you can promote your articles, promote your products and courses and even capture an email list for manual use. All this with a Spammer-free Double Opt-in system.
You can customize the forms and texts displayed through shortcode. You can exclude categories from the site and more using codes in functions.php. You can find all the information on the Jetpack's Subscribe page.
- Totally Free;
- Unlimited list;
- Unlimited emails;
- Double Confirmation;
- Newsletter of new articles;
- Export email list;
- Option of frequency of e-mails for subscribers;
- Difficulty signing up for lay people;
- Easy CSS customization;
- Great e-mail delivery rate;
- You don't need another form plugin;
- You don't need to mess with codes and frames;
The Jetpack subscription system is a newsletter. So the downside is that you can't just send emails like you would on another email marketing platform. The system will only send emails for new articles.
You can work around this problem by using a post redirection system to send the reader to a sales page or something. The content of the post will appear in the email, so you can send a message that way.
You can also export the list of subscribers and place them on another system to trigger your own emails. I currently use Jetpack to capture my followers, export emails weekly and import into the mailbluster.
You also need to settle for the WordPress email template. Fortunately, you can customize the text for new subscriptions to make it easier to confirm emails. There are only advantages to using the WordPress Newsletter.
Another disadvantage of the Jetpack newsletter is that you are unable to export the list of people who entered your email without confirming your registration. You also lose when exporting someone who unsubscribes before.
Using the Jetpack contact form
Why install plugins or create complicated contact forms if Jetpack natively offers a form system? Yes, you can have a tab called Feedback and receive all messages from visitors who wish to contact you.
The only disadvantage of this function is the simple fact that you end up receiving some SPAMs, but don't worry, just ignore and delete or use some anti-spam system that even Jetpack usually recommends you constantly.
Save load on your server by avoiding using contact plugins for just one page of the site. The Feedback system also allows you to add forms to any post using the Gutenberg editor. Something very useful that makes the Jetpack necessary.
How to Avoid Spam in the Contact Form?
The most common suggestion is usually a Captcha, but what if I don't want to install a Plugin just for that? The solution I found was to use the password system itself to block WordPress Pages and Post.
Through a Hook I inform on the page that you need to enter the password [Contact] to access the contact form. I explain that this is to avoid SPAMs. Bots can't get over it, it worked and it was very interesting.
Try to access my contacts page and you will see how it works. You can customize with CSS codes and even apply this function to other pages and POSTs.
Using the Jetpack Feedback System
The advantage of using the Jetpack comment system is that it works better, allows you to log in with your wordpress account or other social network, has Gravatar floating cards and other interesting functions.
Another advantage is that you can invite the person to subscribe to your newsletter at the time that the person is going to comment on your site. If using native WordPress comments, be sure to enable these functions in Jetpack.
Using Extra Jetpack Blocks in Gutenberg
Another advantage of having the Jetpack installed is its extra blocks like Pinterest, EventBrite, gif, contact information, business hours, calendly, map, markdwon, opentable, podcast player and star rating.
We also have recurring payment blocks, related posts, frequent visitors, revue, slide show, subscription form, column gallery, mailchimp, and countless other additions.
Jetpack blocks enrich your WordPress articles. These are just some of the advantages of using the official WordPress plugin for free without paying anything. I hope you enjoyed the article, if you liked it share and leave your comments.