Disclaimer: I’m not a security expert. The advice in this post is based on recommendations from security researchers and consultants. I use two methods for creating passwords: Use software to create and store passwords. My favorite is LastPass. Use a scheme to create and remember passwords myself (without software). The rest of this article tells [...]
I had the privilege of speaking to students of Covenant Christian High School for their Career Day 2013. First, Drew Looyenga spoke about IT support and software development. Next, I gave the presentation below. How could I improve this presentation for next time? Tell me in the comments.
I’ve been impressed by the Wordfence Security plugin after running it on several sites for a few months. Here are some of my favorite features of this plugin: Scans core files, themes and plugins against WordPress.org repository versions to check their integrity. Lets you see how files have changed, and optionally repair changed files. Scans [...]
Since I started using the CloudFlare (free plan) on a few sites a few months ago, it’s greatly reduced comment spam and contact form spam. According to my CloudFlare dashboard, it’s also blocked many botnet zombies and other threats, reducing the risk of my sites being hacked. It also serves as a CDN (content delivery [...]
WordPress’ popularity makes it a frequent malware target. If you suspect your site has malware (and even if you don’t), you should scan it for free with Sucuri SiteCheck. The scan checks for several types of malicious threats. Here’s a screenshot of what you want to see; all green checkmarks. If the scan finds malware [...]
It’s dangerous to send your WordPress username and password over the Internet unencrypted. The best option is to secure your login page with SSL. If that’s not an option, use the Semisecure Login Reimagined plugin instead. I’ve used this plugin on several sites for years. Below are screenshots of the login page before and during [...]
You can never be too security-conscious with WordPress, so let’s look an excellent security plugin: WP Security Scan. I found out about this plugin from the WordPress 3: Developing Secure Sites course on Lynda.com. This plugin does several things, but I especially like the initial scan, permissions scanner, and database prefix changer. Initial Scan Provides [...]
WordPress All-in-One For Dummies by Lisa Sabin-Wilson, Cory Miller, Kevin Palmer, Andrea Rennick, Michael Torbert My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the broadest, most comprehensive WordPress book I’ve read so far. It covers more than WordPress for Dummies (read my review), because it deals with everything from administration to design to development. I [...]
Head First WordPress by Jeff Siarto My rating: 3 of 5 stars This book is short and very high-level, dedicating only 1 or 2 pages to most topics. It’s best for beginners or intermediate WordPress users. It covers styling a theme, managing users, managing categories and tags, embedding video, podcasting, security, and performance. I liked [...]
Update: here’s my latest list of WordPress podcasts. To keep improving my WordPress skills when I’m away from my computer, I listen to podcasts. It’s difficult to teach the technical aspects of web design through audio, so many of these cover WordPress news and opinion, but a few have WordPress tips and tricks as well. [...]