Secure Your WordPress Blog

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If you don’t subscribe to SmashingMagazine.com, then you should! The site is a jackpot of helpful tools, tips, and more all for the average blogger and advanced IT expert. I was scouring their archives and found a great tutorial 10 Useful WordPress Security Tweaks. I have used many of them, but not all. Just remember that before you ever do anything to your WordPress database files, ALWAYS MAKE BACKUPS.

Some of the steps are complex, a few made me quiver with apprehension a little. lol. I have had some bad experiences where I “lost” my blog from an errant file or coding. I always managed to recover the error, though. :D Of the security tips SmashingMagazine mentions, I’d say that protecting the wp-config.php file, blacklisting bots, protecting against script injections and malicious url requests are the most important. Preventing hotlinking is very important, too.

Of course, many folks have IT support to help them with this kind of stuff (even if it is in the form of a family member!), and sometimes your web host may assist you (if they are feeling very generous). But if you you have no idea what you are doing and are afraid you will mess up your WordPress database, and if you have no friend or family member to assist you, get some Computer IT support person to help you. Seriously. Vulnerable WordPress blogs are a threat to all of us. Hackers love to inject websites and blogs with malware, so that visitors’ computers become infected just by visiting your blog. The beauty of WordPress is that it can be secured pretty easily, and at little to no cost (unless you hire an IT expert).

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Posted in blogs, how to, html coding, security how-to, Wordpress. Comments Off »

Code My Concept: Providing the Nuts and Bolts of Beautiful Web Design

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of CodeMyConcept. All opinions are 100% mine.

When it comes to your website, be it for business or pleasure, you really do want it to be all YOU. In the SEO world, we call this “branding.” That’s a rather chilly term for what I like to think of as “your online personality.” Part of your online personality– your “branding”– is web design. I have emphasized for quite a few years the utter importance of a good, functional web design. I’m sure the old “Kubrick” WordPress theme was amazing for its time, but PLEASE. We’ve progressed now!

Web design is NOT easy, this coming from a gal who has tried it and is still learning. I can see the end result in my mind– that beautiful, exquisite opus magnus that creates undulating waves of awesomeness for all my readers… but getting the nuts and bolts together to make it a reality? Not so easy.

I’ve got some good news for you if you are interested in creating a unique design: CodeMyConcept. There’s a very impressive and talented group of people working there! CodeMyConcept crafts your glorious design into code, into a theme for your website. You can install the new theme, or have the CodeMyConcept do it for you.

What I have done is very, very simply described what the team does. Of course, there’s a lot more to it, a lot more this talented team of artists and coders can do. You’ll have to visit the CodeMyConcept website to read more about it. Their website is (obviously) of superior design, and the information is simple and very readable. Go to the website and click the link “Our Work.” It’s exceptional! The prices are not bad at all, definitely within the “branding” budget. And it’s definitely less expensive than hiring an independent designer.

CodeMyConcept guarantees their work, and they specialize in PSD to html service (although, they also do a lot more). I’m really impressed, especially with the prices. I realize I have spent WAY too much on those “premium” themes that everyone else has. :-p Next time I need a design for my websites, I’m checking these guys out.

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Visit my sponsor: CodeMyConcept--A Web Designer's Best Friend!

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A Software Creation Tool

Want to create your own software? I know I would! I have often wanted some software application to help me with something or another (such as, network chat– I still cannot find a good network chat program), but have no idea how to go about it. Plus, I like to tinker. :D

Well anyway, here’s a Software development tool I have heard about: REAL Studio software. There’s a demo video at the website and I found it absolutely fascinating. The demo shows how to make a web browser! The software looks incredibly easy to use. I’m very impressed! If you have even a mild curiosity about creating your own software, or seeing how it is accomplished, do check out the website.

Other things that jumped out at me as I perused the software description:

  • You can download a trial version of REAL Studio to see if you like it.
  • REAL Studio is compatible with all versions of Windows, Mac, and Linux.
  • There are a lot of tutorials and information available.
  • The makers of REAL Studio have gone the extra mile by providing excellent tutorials, a detailed Help section, and a forum for support. Wow!
  • REAL Studio has a 90-day money-back guarantee, and that’s even after you check out the trial version for 30 days.
  • REAL Studio is affordable! The Personal Edition is $99. Other, more extensive versions exist for server and larger studio needs.

Here’s an introductory video from the site. It gives you an idea of how simple REAL Studio program can be:

I think this is a great application– for making software AND for teaching basic software creation lessons. I’m downloading the software trial version, and will definitely have my children get familiar with it. Who knows, maybe we’ll get our own network chat software after all!

Remember, I’m a pro-blogger and I am sometimes compensated with stuff or money to mention or review products! This was one of them. You can read more about my blog policy on my “About” page.

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Fixing the Updated Content Gallery Plugin

The illustrious Content Gallery Plugin for WordPress blogs has recently issued an update. The plugin is now named Featured Content Gallery Plugin. That’s a very nice name, but with the name change comes a little scare if you are unprepared– updating to the new name knocks out the plugin’s effectiveness on your blog. In other words, after you update, the plugin won’t work right away. There’s something else you have to do after you update this plugin, before it can get going again: you have to go into your Theme Editor and rename the code– you must tell the theme to point to the Featured Content Gallery plugin, not the Content Gallery plugin. Here’s the quick and easy way to do this:

>> Update plugin.
>> Go to your Theme Editor.
>> Find the code for the Content Gallery plugin (it’s usually in the “home.php” file but your location may vary depending upon where you have the plugin inserted).
>> Find the code that says:

<?php include (ABSPATH . ‘/wp-content/plugins/content-gallery/gallery.php’); ?>

>> Replace it with this:

<?php include (ABSPATH . ‘/wp-content/plugins/featured-content-gallery/gallery.php’); ?>

>> Save.
>> Check your website and refresh. You may need to clear your cache to see the change.

I don’t know why these instructions were not clear on the WordPress plugin gallery site, nor the plugin homepage. I had no idea you had to change the code– I merely updated the plugin, only. So I freaked out after updating the plugin, because when people viewed my home page, all they saw was a bunch of scrambled code nonsense where the Gallery should be.

Hopefully, this will spare plugin users the agony of an ugly home page and the scrambling for a fix. Hope this helps.

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Posted in how to, html coding, Wordpress. Tags: . Comments Off »

Online Text Fixer Tool

I’ve got another goody coming out of my grab bag! I found this very cool site that will fix your text– called Text Fixer. It will fix all sorts of things:

  • Put text in alphabetical order
  • Capitalize sentences
  • Remove line breaks and whitespace
  • Create Javascript pop-up windows
  • And more…

I love the alphabetical order and remove line spaces features. I am fussy about my formatting– when I want a line break after the phrase “pet beds” or whatever, I don’t want a line break after the phrase! And I do a lot of alphabetizing, too. This makes it sooo easy.

Another handy site to bookmark!

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Posted in conversion programs, html coding, web design. Tags: , , . Comments Off »

The HTML Tag Super List

Wonder what all that babbling HTML nonsense is all about? I found a terrific websit that lists what those HTML tags are. And it’s in plain English! This is a very good site to bookmark and have handy when you are doing any kind of coding writing or reading (or are just strangely curious about how to read HTML, like me!). The website is called HTML Tags. It’s free to peruse. But if you want something like a handy chart– one that you can actually handle and refer to physically, the site offers foldable charts in various sizes, font sizes, and colors. It’s neat, like your own little HTML personalized books! Check out the site and bookmark it when you need it. A great tool!

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Posted in free stuff, html coding. Tags: , , , . Comments Off »