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How to Make Your WordPress Installation More Secure – Part 2

March 7th, 2011 Use Wordpress

How to Make Your WordPress Installation More Secure – Part 2 – Update WordPress

WordPress is constantly looking for issues with the software and are particularly vigilant on security issues. Security issues have a high priority and coding fixes are provided quickly.

You are notified in your dashboard when new releases are available. If you look in the bottom right of the dashboard you can review the changes in the new release.  If there are any security issues you need to update ASAP.

This also applies to plugins and themes. While you are updating the main code, go ahead and update the plugins and themes as well.

Note: Make sure you backup your database before updating your WordPress installation.  I will review that in a later part.

how to upgrade wordpress install dashboard

Make your WordPress install more secure!

Linda
PS If you need more help, let me know.

How to Make Your WordPress Installation More Secure – Part 1

March 3rd, 2011 Use Wordpress

I will be writing a series of posts on how to make your WordPress install more secure.  These will be relatively simple steps you can take over the next couple of weeks.

The first one is so simple but yet is overlooked by 99% of those who install WordPress on their own hosting.

Make your usename something other than ‘admin’ AND have a strong password.

You read that right!  One of the favorite ways for hackers to get access to WordPress accounts is through figuring out passwords.  The hackers don’t even have to figure out the username because most of them are still ‘admin.’

I was thinking about this the other day and I have several sites that we set up for demos in the beginning that just had ‘admin’ for the username and ‘admin’ for the password!

Talk about just opening the door for hackers!

So your first assignment is to go to all your WordPress installs and change the username to something that is alpha-numeric and is not easy to figure out.  Then change your password to something very secure.  I like to use an 8 character password that contains upper and lower case alpha characters, numerals and  make them random.

Make your WordPress install more secure!

Linda
PS If you need more help, let me know.

How to Upgrade WordPress

February 12th, 2011 Use Wordpress

How to Upgrade WordPress

WordPress is continually making improvements and fixing bugs. Therefore they come out with new releases several times a year.

Updating WordPress can be a daunting until the first time you do it and find out how simple it can be.  (It can also be overwhelming if you 100 blogs!) It is daunting if you run into a glitch!

The first thing I do is to look at what fixes have been added to the revised software.  If there is a security update then I want to look carefully at what they have fixed.  It the update has a ‘security hardening’ then I definitely start upgrading all our WordPress blogs.

If the upgrade is not a security risk, then I typically wait to update the blogs.

The first thing I always do before any update is backup the databases. The easiest way to do this is with a WordPress plugin. I like WordPress Database Backup plugin.  It is fairly easy to setup.  (You can download it here: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-db-backup/)

Next I go back to the dashboard and click on ‘Updated’ in the upper left sidebar.  WordPress shows me all the updates that are available.  First I upgrade the software by clicking on “Install Automatically”.   Now just sit and wait while the software updates.
NOTE: You used to have to deactivate all the plugins and put the site in Maintenance Mode but now the software does everything in the background.

When the upgrade is complete you will get the following message: Actions: Go to Dashboard

Now you want to make sure your plugins and themes are all up to date. So click ‘Go to Dashboard’ and WordPress will tell what is down level.

If you have a plugin or theme that is down level, simply check ‘select all’ and click ‘upgrade’ and you plugins and themes will automatically be updated.

That’s it!   It really is fairly simple!   BUT  BEWARE…

You can encounter errors.  This is the scary part for most WordPress users.  I have done this hundreds of times and dread running into an upgrade glitch.  Not only does it take time to fix but many times the solution is not obvious and it may take hours to figure out what went wrong and then find a fix.

I have close to 100 blogs and so upgrading is a time consuming task.  However, if one of these breaks it isn’t the end of the world for me.

However, when I upgrade a clients site and this is their livelihood I have to get it fixed ASAP.  Therefore I had to come up with a solution to getting a client back online fast, even if I had to go back to the original level.  I use a cloning software that works great for a number of WordPress tasks.  You can take a look here:  WordPress Help

I will go into more detail in another post.

WordPress.com VS WordPress.org

February 11th, 2011 Use Wordpress

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org

Not All WordPress blogs are created equal

Not All WordPress Blogs Are Created Equal…

I am surprised at how confusing this topic is!  I am going to take a look at both and then you will have to decide which is best for your business right now.

Here is the MAIN difference: Where the software is hosted and ownership

Let me explain – WordPress is a an open source blogging software. That means that it is free for anyone to use. It is quickly becoming the most popular blogging platform on the Internet.

WordPress. com is a site that uses the WordPress blogging software and allows you to build your website on their hosting.  There are many advantages and disadvantages to using WordPress.com.

ADVANTAGES

  • Fast and easy to setup
  • Don’t need hosting
  • Don’t need a domain name
  • Don’t have to do software updates
  • Don’t have to do backups of data
  • Don’t have to worry about SPAM

DISADVANTAGES

  • Domain name is Title.wordpress.com
  • Can’t add plugins
  • Can’t edit themes (You can edit the CSS of themes if you upgrade.)
  • WordPress.com can shut down your blog

WordPress.org is where I can go to download a copy of the software and then install on my own hosting. There are several advantages and disadvantages to using WordPress this way.

ADVANTAGES

  • You determine your domain name
  • You control the hosting
  • You can tweak themes; upload themes and design custom themes
  • You can add plugins
  • You can streamline databasesd??
  • Can display advertisements

DISADVANTAGES

  • You need a domain name (~$6 – $20/year)
  • You need hosting  (~$100 – $600/year)
  • You need to be able to install the software or hire someone
  • You need to be able to upgrade to new versions as they are released
  • You need to do periodic backups or hire someone
  • You need to be able to tweak the theme or hire someone
  • You need to be able to add plugins or hire someone
  • Need to install a plugin to help manage SPAM

The bottom line is: if you have a business, you need to have WordPress installed on your own hosting. It is very important that you can use this powerful software to build your business and that you can control the site.  Your business should never be at the mercy of someone else.

There are times I recommend a wordpress.com site to be a part of the overall linking strategy.  WordPress.com can provide valuable backlinks if done correctly.

Linda
PS If you have a personal blog and no hosting, then WordPress.com might be the best option for you.

WordPress Security Updates

February 10th, 2011 Use Wordpress

WordPress updates its software on a regular basis. There are a variety of reasons for the various updates.

I pay close attention to any security releases. WordPress 3.0.5 has what is called a security hardening update. WordPress strongly encourages users to update their platform.

The biggest exposure was user account access. If you have a Contributor or Author user, there is a hole that allows them to have more access to the site than you intended.

Other security enhancements enhances the security of plugins and a few other vulnerabilities.

In December 3.0.4 was released which had a critical security update.

If you haven’t updated either of these two updates, you need to update now!

How to Publish a WordPress Page

January 29th, 2011 Use Wordpress

How to Publish a WordPress Page

It is very easy to publish a page – once you know how!

First you need to have WordPress installed on your hosting.
NOTE: If you don’t have that, then just enter your email in the box to the upper left and I will send you some free videos that will show you how.

Log into your blog

In your dashboard on the left, you’ll see a section called ‘Pages”. Click “Add New”

Enter your Title and then the content.

Click “Publish” in the right sidebar.

I just created a Power Point showing you how.  You can get it free here:how to publish a wordpress page

How to Publish a WordPress Page

How to Edit a WordPress Theme: Sidebar

January 14th, 2011 Use Wordpress

Question: How to edit a WordPress theme – Change the sidebar font color?

This is the last video in this video series: How to Edit a WordPress Theme.
In the previous three videos we covered:

  • How to change a header graphic in WordPress theme
  • How to change the font color in a WordPress theme
  • How to change the background color in a WordPress theme
  • How to change the hoover color in the blog post title

Here is the fourth video where I show you how to change the font color for links and the font color in the sidebar:

How to Edit a WordPress Theme: Background

January 14th, 2011 Use Wordpress

Question: How to change the background color on my theme?

Most themes define the background color in the CSS stylesheet.  It is a matter of going into the Editor for that the theme.  If you are not comfortable with this, then find someone to do it for you. (I have a Technical VA service that does this type of work all the time.)

I did a series of four videos on making theme changes. Just click ‘WordPress Themes’ in the navigation bar at the top to see all the videos.

Here is how we changed the background color for this theme:

How to Edit a WordPress Theme: Fonts

January 13th, 2011 Use Wordpress

Question: How to change the font color on my theme?

Like changing the header graphic, the answer to that question varies depending on the theme that you use.  But since all themes have text then all themes have the ability to change the font color.

Here is how we changed the font color for this theme:

***************Make sure you keep a copy of the original code before you start making changes in the theme editor!!!! ********************************

TRUST ME!!! You will not be a happy camper if you make a mistake…

How to Edit a WordPress Theme: Header

January 13th, 2011 Use Wordpress
how to help for wordpress

Question: How do I change my header graphic on my WordPress theme?

The answer to that question varies depending on the theme that you use.  If you want a custom graphic as a header then you need to have a them that has a placeholder for a header graphic.

Here is how we changed the header graphic for this theme:

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