How to Convert Your WordPress Website to Firebase

Firebase is a cloud platform that allows you to build and host mobile and web apps without the need to own even a single server. It is a very popular solution amongst developers who want to build a scalable and robust app that can reach a wide audience. In this blog post, you will learn how to easily and quickly setup and customize an entire WordPress website as a fully equipped Firebase test environment so you can try the service out for yourself without risking any downtime or lost revenue.

Why Should You Switch?

There are several major attractions to using Firebase over WordPress, including:

• No database administration. Once you have set up your WordPress site with the Firebase app, all database administration will be handled for you.
• Real-time database updates. With Firebase, your database will automatically update itself as new content is uploaded to the app. This makes testing updates much easier.
• Hosting on Firebase is completely free. Even if you are just testing the service out, you will not need to pay a cent for hosting.
• Automatic updates. When you launch a new version of your app or plugin on Firebase, all of your users will be upgraded to the new version without any need for intervention.
• App-specific APIs. You don’t need to worry about creating APIs for your site as you can use the ones already provided by Firebase.
• Crash-free hosting even for critical apps. Your web app will be hosted by Google and will be automatically backed up by them on a daily basis. In case your app crashes or goes down for some reason, you will be alerted immediately and can restore it easily.
• Free tier. If you are just testing the service out then the free tier is a perfect choice as you won’t need to spend a penny to start with.
• An excellent platform for creating multiplayer games.
• A dedicated support team that is available 24/7 via email and phone.
• Fully featured web interface. With Firebase, all of the configuration is done from the web interface. This makes managing your site a lot simpler and more convenient.

Additionally, if you own a small business that relies heavily on word of mouth and online reviews for their sales—like many small businesses do—then switching to Firebase can significantly boost your digital presence. When you have a successful WordPress site, it is very easy to monetize. You can run ads, sell affiliate products, or use a third-party affiliate platform like Google Adsense.

Step 1: Set Up Your WordPress Site as a Testbed

To set up your WordPress website as a testbed for Firebase, you will need to log in to your Google account and click the Create Project button in the upper-right corner. You will see a popup dialog box where you can enter a project name and a description for your test environment. After that, click Create.

This will bring you to a new page on which you can find the Google Cloud Platform Console. From here, you can click on the Connected Apps button to connect your WordPress site to the Cloud Platform. You will need to verify your site’s ownership by selecting it from a list of the sites connected to your Google account.

This is simply a testbed and you do not need to worry about securing it as there is no sensitive or proprietary data contained within. To connect your WordPress site to the Cloud Platform, you will need to do the following steps:

Step 2: Install WordPress’ Latest Version

As mentioned above, the ideal situation is to have the latest version of WordPress installed on your site. If you are using an older version, then you will need to update it to the latest version (currently v5.2.4) before you proceed with the next step.

This ensures that you are testing with the newest features and bug fixes. If you update your WordPress site to the latest version, then you will receive automatic updates from WordPress when new versions are released. This will ensure that you always have the most recent version of WordPress installed on your site when you are testing.

Step 3: Install WordPress Plugins

WordPress comes with a variety of built-in plugins that provide additional functionality to your site’s content. To add more features to your site, you can install third-party plugins that extend WordPress’ functionality.

There are a few things that you should avoid while installing plugin from third-party sources, however, as it will further confuse matters if you are not sure about what some of these plugins do.

Firstly, only install plugins from reputable sources. If you discover a widely used plugin that has a critical flaw, then it would be a good idea to notify the maintainers of the plugin so they can fix it. Additionally, try to avoid installing outdated or insecure plugins as they could expose your website to security risks or slow it down.

Secondly, when you install a plugin from a third-party source, it usually comes with additional settings. Some of these settings can be configured via the WordPress dashboard, while others may need to be modified from within the plugin’s source code. Make sure that you understand how each setting works before you start tweaking them to suit your needs.

Step 4: Create a Backup of Your WordPress Site

If you are using WordPress, then you should have a backup plan in place even if you are running a reputable web hosting service. Regularly backing up your site is extremely important as it helps ensure that you can always rollback changes if anything bad happens.

WordPress stores all of the data associated with the site in its database. This makes it easy to back up using a variety of tools, including mysqldump and phpPgBack.

In addition to this, you can use tools like Revolver or BackupBuddy to create backups of your WordPress site that are stored in the cloud or on external storage devices.

Step 5: Disable All Plugins but One

When you are ready to try out Firebase, you should have just one active plugin on your site. Disabling all of the other plugins is a simple way to ensure that your site is only using the one that you have installed. Once you have disabled the other plugins, you can enable the Firebase plugin and test out the service without any interference from the other plugins.

To disable a plugin, navigate to your WordPress dashboard and click on the Plugins button in the upper-right corner. From here, you can click on the Settings button for each plugin to access the plugin’s settings page. On this page, you can change the plugin’s status from Enabled to Disabled. To disable more than one plugin, you will need to repeat this step for each one.

Once you have disabled all of the plugins on your site, you can enable the WordPress plugin again along with the Firebase plugin. This will ensure that both of these plugins are active and can be used simultaneously.

Step 6: Configure Your WordPress Site for Firebase

Now that your WordPress site is set up with the latest version of WordPress and is ready to use, you can begin configuring it for Firebase. To do this, you will need to log in to your Google account and click on the gear icon in the upper-right corner. From here, you can click on Settings and then on the General tab. You will see several configuration options for your WordPress site. To use Firebase, you will need to make several changes to your site’s settings.

Step 6.1: Change The Website’s Name

The first thing that you will need to do to use Firebase is to change the website’s name. This is a required step as the Google Cloud Platform requires you to use a unique identifier for your site. To do this, enter a new name for your website in the Google Cloud Platform Console and click the Save button. You can now use the site with the new name.

Step 6.2: Enable HTTPS

Once you have changed the website’s name, you can proceed with enabling HTTPS. To do this, click on the gear icon in the upper-right corner and select Settings from the menu. On the General tab, make sure that the site URL begins with https:// and that the SSL certificate is valid. You will need to ensure that the security of your site is set up correctly before you proceed to the next step.

Step 6.3: Change The Website’s Password

The next step is to change the website’s password. To do this, enter a new password in the space provided and click the Save button. Now you can use the site with the new password.