Meh. ANOTHER WordPress Update. Aw, COME ON!!!

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I saw in my WordPress Dashboard “News” feed that another WordPress update is in the works. Good God, when will this madness end?

It seems like just yesterday that we released WordPress 3.1

Dudes, it WAS just yesterday….. *sigh* Little do they realize that many of us hesitate after a new release, preferring to wait and watch the experts fix the bugs and warn us of problems before updating. But we don’t even have time to do that anymore. As soon as an update is released, there’s another one on the factory belt!

This is getting a little unbearable. I like WordPress and all.. and it’s free so I’m REALLY grateful. But PLEASE. Every couple of months?! We have lives.

P.S. This is not a good time to praise the virtues of Blogger. Cuz I ain’t switching. ;)

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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 »

Got Bugs? Scan Your URL

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I discovered a great site that will scan your website or blog for malware, exploits, and other nasty vermin: URL Void. It’s great! It’s free to use and it works well.

In this age of profligate hacking, something like this is almost a requirement for any webmaster. I have heard numerous horror stories from my blogging peers that their website had been hacked. Usually, it’s a prank and the webpage displays a “Hacked By” sign with foul language. Sometimes, it’s a little more malicious– a webmaster or blogger may install a plugin or theme or widget that has malicious code in it. This code may spew juice-drying links from your domain, or assault your visitors with filthy popups.

Now you can fight back. :D I’m so grateful to the dudes at URL Void. Thanks for doing this!

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Posted in blogs, crime, security programs, web design, websites, Wordpress. Tags: , , , . 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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WordPress Themes Site

I’m on a roll! You can never have too many themes for your blog, now can you? ;) This one is WPRex – free wordpress themes. It touts itself as the “Best Free WordPress Themes For Free.” The themes are very nice. Many of them are the popular magazine style. I rather like the Elegant News and Magnalitus themes. I’ve been searching for a new theme for this blog (I have never found one that I liked *just right*), so I’ll be hunting again, when I have more time.

You can search by color, columns, theme topic, etc. No registration or login is required to download a theme, either (I hate that). Nice themes here, check them out.

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Posted in blogs, templates, Wordpress. Tags: , , , . Comments Off »

Another- ANOTHER- WordPress Update

Oh my word. LOL. There’s another update!!! WordPress users, you’ve probably seen the little notification in your blog dashboard. WordPress 3.0.1 is out. Looks like it’s a maintenance upgrade, taking care of a bunch of issues missed in the last upgrade.

I love WP, I really do. It is GREAT. But the updates keep me in a tizzy. I have 13 blogs… updating them every couple of weeks is a real pain, especially when they are insignificant kinds of upgrades. Couldn’t they have thoroughly tested 3.0 before issuing it?!

I don’t mean to complain… they WP dudes do a superb job. WP is beautiful stuff. But I am *sigh* tired of updating everything. Again. And again.

Oh well. :D At least they’ve made it easier! :)

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