OptimizePress runs on the self hosted version of WordPress from WordPress.org which you must be running on a professional hosting/server service (such as SiteGround). You will also need a domain linked to your hosting in order to license your site.
We recommend hosting your site with SiteGround, but if you are using another web host, please check they have the following:
The following lists the minimum requirements to be able to use OptimizePress:
- The latest version of WordPress is recommended (Absolute minimum WP 5.0, but for secure sites you should use latest version)
- Memory limit set to at least 512M, usually in the php.ini file (like this: memory_limit = 512M)
- WordPress memory limit set to 256MB or 512MB – define(‘WP_MEMORY_LIMIT’, ‘256M’)
- The mod_rewriteApache module (or similar nginx server setting)
- PHP 7.4 or higher (PHP 8 or higher suggested if other plugins/themes are also compatible) NOTE: OptimizePress version 3 is fully compatible with PHP 8 or higher as of 15th April, 2022
- PHP upload limit 32MB or higher
- PHP mbstring extension turned on
- PHP Shortcodes must be enabled
- The minimum max_input_vars setting in the php.ini file should be 3000 or higher (like this: max_input_vars = 3000). This allows creating pages with long content such as sales pages.
- The max_execution_time should be set to 60 to avoid issues with server timeouts during installation.
- No firewalls blocking access from our licensing server (this is used to validate your license)
- The server must be online – we are not compatible with localhost installations
- WordPress Rest API must not be limited
For editing pages in the OptimizePress Page Builder we do also recommend a minimum screen size of 15 inches and resolution of 1280×800.
PHP variables that would normally be editable within a php.ini file may also be modified by creating a “.user.ini” file (without quotes) within the main WordPress directory. Normally the same directory where you would find your wp-config.php file.
To ensure you set PHP variables correctly, here is what the contents of the .user.ini file should look like (note if your server already meets some of these, you may omit the lines for those variables):
max_execution_time = 60
max_input_time = 60
upload_max_filesize = 35M
post_max_size = 35M
max_input_vars = 3000
memory_limit = 64M
This method works well in most hosting environments. You may need to reboot the server in some cases or wait some time and clear your browser and site cache in order to see the changes.
NOTE: While WordPress.com hosted sites may allow for installing external plugins such as OptimizePress, we can not guarantee full functionality there as it is not coded exactly the same as the self hosted version of WordPress. There are a lot of technical differences between the two platforms even though they are similar in many ways. These minor differences mean that some of the code dependencies that OptimizePress plugins and our smart theme rely on are likely not the same on WordPress.com hosted sites and will cause issues with some features of OptimizePress
There are many alternative hosting solutions such as Kinsta.com, and many others that offer a “Managed WordPress” hosting that would be similar to WordPress.com with regards to the hosting handling all core WordPress updates for you as well as keeping the hosting secured and updated.
If you have any questions about this guide please reach out to our support team and we’ll be happy to guide you further.