WordPress

Don’t Get Hacked, Update Your Plugins

March 16, 2015 By Jen Kehl

Last week we found out that WordPress SEO by Yoast had a security compromise. Messages were blasted out everywhere, Update Your Plugins! (Actually you should be okay, because the issue was so severe WordPress.org did a forced update for everyone.) But you still should update your plugins!

This brings up a very serious topic I have been talking to my clients about. Plugins are the easiest backdoor for a hacker to walk through. Although we would like to think that this was an isolated incident, the only reason it was blasted from high and low is because WordPress SEO is the #1 downloaded WordPress plugin.

Trust me, bloggers big and small get hacked everyday because of old code in a plugin.

I have worked with a lot of bloggers over the past few months who want some help with their blogs functionality, the first thing I always check is plugins. I have been amazed by the sheer amount of un-updated plugins, from both the bloggers end and the builders end.

Most?bloggers don’t realize that not updating plugins is a security risk. Their view is that?their site is too small to be hacked. But that’s not true, a hacker doesn’t care how big you are. What they want is your platform, it doesn’t matter how big it is.

[bctt tweet=”Update your plugins to keep your blog safe! #WordPress #Plugins”]

Here’s another thing you may not know.

A plugin is also vulnerable if the plugin author is not updating it.

I recently did a plugin check for a client and discovered two plugins that hadn’t been updated in over a year. That is a huge open door. Plugins are integrated into the code that WordPress is built on, if the author does?not update his?plugins, but your WordPress code is constantly being updated, then the code gets further and further from matching up.

Think of it as a zipper. The plugin is one side, and WordPress is the other. As long as both are up to date, the zipper is all zipped up. But if one of them is not updated the zipper starts opening and any Tom, Dick or Harry can climb in your hoodie.

Just remember, plugin authors are human and humans make mistakes, as was the case with WordPress SEO by Yoast. Humans can also decide they don’t want to do the same job anymore and abandon a plugin. It is your responsibility to stay on top of your plugins and WordPress updates.

If you need help, you can always ask. But for now, go login to your WordPress dashboard and update your plugins!

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Create a Bulletproof Password

February 25, 2015 By Jen Kehl

This week I’m going to do a mini-series on protecting your blog or website. I think the most obvious place to start is with a bulletproof password.

I participate in a lot of forums around the web. I would say the number one misconception I read is that small blogs and websites don’t need to worry about being hacked. Bloggers tend to?think you need to have a lot of traffic to attract hackers.

I learned first hand, that is not the case. One of the reasons I learned how to write code and build websites was because my site, Raised on the Radio, got hacked two years ago. I?was just beginning, and starting to gain a small following, I?had about 100-200 views a day, it was small but beginning to thrive. And then, within a week, everything fell apart. My site got blacklisted by Google and I had to shell out some serious money to clean it all up. In the end, I couldn’t save my site; so I moved it to WordPress.com and focused on my personal site and learning to code.

I learned a lot of valuable lessons that week that I will share in coming posts. Not the least of which was the importance of having a bulletproof password.

The Login

Even if you have a sucky password, you know that the best thing you could possibly do is have a strong password.

What you might not know is you should also NOT have the word Admin as your login. What? No one told you that? Well I’m telling you. If your login is Admin, or someone’s login is Admin, I suggest you change that now.

Just like www.pleasedonthackme.com/wp-admin is the most obvious login page, the most obvious login ID is Admin.

Password Basics

Here are the rules:

Your password MUST contain a number, a symbol, uppercase and a lowercase letters. (I will share my trick at the end)
Your password must NOT contain any pattern of numbers ie, 1234, 876, etc.
Your password must NOT contain any name or word you can find in the dictionary. Yup. Not one single?name or word.

Now for The Bulletproof Password

If you want to be safe, be a bot’s worst password nightmare.

I learned a password generating trick and I will share it with you. You will never forget your password, and a hacker will never figure it out, here’s how:

Make up a sentence that includes an address for someone you actually know (or yourself, your pets, your children): Frankie and Johnnie live at 312 Boogie Drive

Here’s your password: F&Jla312BD

Easy peasy:

The first letter of each word
If it is capitalized naturally it stays capitalized
If it is lowercase it stays lowercase
Turn your “and” into an &
Leave your numbers in tact.
Use any sentence you will always remember and you have a bullet proof password!

[bctt tweet=”If you want to be safe, be a hack bot’s worst nightmare! Create a bulletproof password for your site!”]

Let’s try another one, Steely Dan and The Eagles live at 412 Hotel California –

SD&TEla412HC

What do you think? Even my mom can do it, so I know you can too!

If you’re having any trouble with security or plugins, don’t forget to give me a holler for your free 30 minute consultation!

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5 Favorite Fonts For January

February 3, 2015 By Jen Kehl

Here Are My 5 Favorite Fonts for January

This month I will begin with a little bit of extra info to make sure we’re all on the same foot (that is a serif joke, you’ll get it later, I promise).

Do you know the difference between serif and sans-serif?

In the world of website building and web applications (like WordPress) there are?three different types of font-families (for the sake of ease we will call them fonts just like we did before this ?ber long explanation) – serif, sans-serif and cursive. Cursive encompasses cursive (duh) and also hand-written looking fonts; and serif and sans-serif make up the rest.

Serif is defined by Webster as: one of the short lines near the top and bottom of the long parts of some printed letters.

I seriously had to read that 3 times. What it means is when you look at a font, and it has what looks like a brush stroke or line coming off of the top of a letter, that is serif. Look at my capital E it is a really good example of serif.

Sans-Serif of course is without serif -?the lines. See my post headlines.

Which is better for what?

Rule of thumb. To our human eye, Serif fonts look like they have little feet. The bottoms of the letters tend to be straight, and therefore sit quite nicely on a line. Serif fonts are very easy on the eyes and therefore the best choice for bodies of texts, like blog posts.

Sans-serif fonts are wonderful for headlines. A good Sans-Serif will be open and flowing, easy to read and lead?the eye.

[bctt tweet=”Try a serif font to make sure we’re all on the same foot! http://beyondblogdesign.com/2015/02/03/five-favorite-fonts-january-2015/”]

The secret is out.

For my blog posts I use Fjord One, it is a very pleasing Serif. Not to condensed not to severe.
For my titles I use Open Sans. I like how spaced out Open Sans is while still being very readable.

This week I am highlighting two Serif fonts, three Sans-Serif fonts.

Fjord One – As I mentioned before Fjord One is a great Serif font. It accomplishes the task of being easy to read, without being too ordinary like a Times New Roman. Some of the things I love are the capital J, the lower case g and the oval Q with the longer tail. Here is a sampling.

Trocchi?is another Serif font. This one might be a little to fancy for the average Joe to use as a body font. But if you have a website with a flair, and want to use a Serif this might be the right choice for you! I love the lowercase “a” and “k”. The “k” looks like a cocktail waitress to me, her leg out and her hand up holding a tray. Yup, fetish.

Raleway is a Sans-Serif that I find very sturdy. It is a very good fit for body text or headlines because it has solid lines and a strong footing without being a Serif. Love the “w”s and the lowercase “l”s and “t”s.

Open Sans is the Sans-Serif I use in my headings. I find it very pleasing because it has nice letter-spacing. That is the space between the letters and belive it or not, that has a lot to do with why your eye likes a font or doesn’t. Something I will write about later is called Font Pairing. It is what you think. The reason I like Open Sans with Fjord One is the “a”, “q” and “j” are all very similar to me.

Galano Classic is a Sans-Serif I just recently became familiar with.?All of the letters seemed to be based on a perfectly rounded circle. To me this makes it more of a feminine font, or a font suited for something playful. I love the dots on the lower case “i” and I think the lower case “g” is how I fell in love. Because Galano Classic is a premium font, and not a free Google Font, the way I have to show you is a little different. More about premium fonts in a sec.

It’s so easy to forget that actual designers make fonts. I only wish I was half as talented as those folk! So please only use fonts that are available for free or premium fonts you have paid for.

And as always, I am available to talk about integrating new fonts in to your blog or website. Let’s chat!

8 WordPress Plugins Every Blogger Should Know About

January 19, 2015 By Jen Kehl

What is a plugin?

A plugin is a bunch of code, that, when added (plugged in) to your WordPress site, gives it?a ton of functionality it did not have before. The great thing about WordPress plugins, is that they take an already amazing site, that you created, and make it better without you having to know any code.

People are often concerned that there is a “too many plugins” threshold. The truth is, what matters is what plugins you have. This article by Austin Gunter over at WP Engine called, Plugins and Fast WordPress Sites – It’s Not the Number of Plugins, It’s the Quality?explains why you can be running 80 plugins and still have a safe, fast site!?So, whether you have 2 or 20 plugins (or 80!), these are WordPress plugins you should know about.

Jetpack by WordPress

Jetpack is an amazing WordPress plugin built by the folks at Automattic (the people behind WordPress). The great thing about Jetpack is it offers you a ton of functions that used to only be available in individual plugins. Some notables are Social Media share buttons, blog follow widget, easy blog icon (favicon), custom CSS module, simple contact forms, related posts, even grammar and spell check and so so much more. Use Jetpack and only activate the modules you use.

Akismet

Akismet is the single most effective spam reducing plugin. On my personal blog Akismet catches 500 spam messages a day.

WordPress SEO by Yoast

WordPress SEO by Yoast has surpassed all other plugins as the definitive SEO plugin. As a matter of fact, this plugin also eliminates the need to have a plugin that generates XML sitemaps because it generates new ones every time you write a new post and submits them for you!
One of the best features of this plugin is that it has a simple red light, green light system alerting you when you’re SEO is not good. You scroll to the bottom of your page and can see a live page analysis. Just click on the Page Analysis tab and get an explanation of how to improve the SEO on your post.

W3 Total Cache

W3 Total Cache?What is cache? Caching is when your data is stored in a way that is easier for your site to access then to go to your server and request it. It makes your site run much faster with fewer errors. It is really important for page load time. All hosts recommend you use one, most recommend you use this one.

Wordfence Security

As far as free security goes, Wordfence Security is probably the best. With over 4 million downloads and an almost perfect rating of 4.9 you can’t go wrong. If you choose to go with Wordfence, you won’t need a caching plugin – Wordfence takes care of that. It has a firewall that blocks common forms of?attacks and has a unique way of blocking known attacks. If any other WordPress site is being attacked it blocks that same attack on every site that uses it, simultaneously!

Simple Social Icons

It doesn’t get any easier than Simple Social Icons, this plugin allows you to drop clean-looking social icons into any widget. And you can customize the color and size.

Better Click to Tweet

Better Click to Tweet?is a plugin that everyone who wants more twitter shares needs. It places a little twitter icon in your tool bar, so while you are creating a page or post, you just click the icon and a window pops up. Enter your tweet and it shows up as a nice bit of pop out text in your post. It makes it really easy for your readers to click on it to tweet your personalized tweet.

Social Media Sharing Plugin

When I originally wrote this post, #8 was Shareaholic. Since then, I have had to fix more sites with that plugin than any other. And so, it lost it’s spot. In my quest to find a replacement, I have come up with these options.

You can use the built in functionality of Jetpack.? If you don’t want floating buttons in your sidebar, Jetpack is a great choice that is guaranteed not to effect how your site functions.

SumoMe?This comes with a HUGE caveat. I have never used SumoMe. That being said I have tons of clients who use it, and no one has ever needed me to fix their site. So that’s saying a lot.

Social Warfare premium plugin.?This plugin is going to get it’s own post soon. It is by far the most amazing social media plugin I have ever used. I have been using it on the blog I publish, Break the Parenting Mold, and it is so amazing that I can’t imagine how I ever lived without it. Here are some functions:

Choose specific Facebook Images, titles and descriptions. (I know you can do that with Yoast, but wait)
Choose specific PINTEREST Images and DESCRIPTIONS! Yes I am yelling. This way when someone clicks Pin, the image YOU want is pulled, it doesn’t even have to be in your post!! And it pulls YOUR description which you can load with SEO. This plugin has increased our Pinterest traffic!
Click to Tweet (this would eliminate your need for click to tweet) and you can choose from multiple styles.
Customizable sharing buttons.
Many sharing platforms not available everywhere.
Customizable counts. For instance, if you don’t want people to see a post has only been shared twice, you tell the plugin, only show share counts after x amount of shares.

Yes that link is an affiliate link, but I would NEVER recommend something I didn’t love. The customer service is very responsive, since it is a new plugin there have been a few hiccups, but they have fixed them very fast. I have been thrilled with the amount of customization I can do, and attribute our rapid growth in part to that plugin.

In my opinion, WordPress plugins are part of what makes WordPress fun. Plugins are the tools you need to make your blog do the things you always wished it could do! Read the post I mentioned above, get over your fear of plugins and start looking at how plugins can make your blog more unique.

[bctt tweet=”8 #WordPress plugins you need. From SEO to Social Media and Security, this has you covered. #plugins #SEO”]

What do Beyonce, CNN and NASA have in common?

October 12, 2014 By Jen Kehl

Lately I’ve been asked a lot of WordPress is the right choice for building a website. I realized that I had the information under my finger tips as part of my very first WordPress project, you decide:

As usual, the whole world is doing what Beyonce is doing. The Rolling Stones. Usain Bolt. TechCrunch. charity:water.?Even Harvard Law School counts as a Bey follower!

What trend is Queen Bey setting now, my friends?

Using WordPress to build her website.?

Today, nearly 1 in 4 websites are built on WordPress. Over 409 million people view more than 15.8 billion pages on WordPress each month, and WordPress users produce about 43.7 million new posts and 58.8 million new comments every single month!?Estimates show?that there are currently more than 60 million distinct websites that are using WordPress active on the web today.

WordPress is a big deal. As big of a deal (dare I say it?) as Mrs. Carter.

In case you?re not familiar (don?t worry, that?s why we?re here!), WordPress is a Content Management System (CMS) that allows users to create and manage blogs and websites. Okay, okay, so you know that a lot of bloggers start out using?WordPress? But you might not know that some of the biggest names out there, including brand and websites you visit every day, trust and love WordPress to keep their sites up and running and looking stellar.

Behold this amazing list of 103 websites built using WordPress.

Brands

1. IZOD

2. COURVOISIER

3. UPS?BLOG

4. BOINGO WIRELESS

5.CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES NEWS

6. BATA

7. VAN HEUSEN

8. THE KNOT BLOG

9. GET UNREAL

10. WOLVERINE WORLDWIDE

11. COCA COLA FRANCE

12. EDDIE BAUER: BLOG

Humanitarian & Non-Profit

13. CHARITY WATER

14. ACUMEN

15. CURE INTERNATIONAL

16. OPEN.NASA

17. ROTARY CLUB: ROTARY MEANS BUSINESS

18. GLOBAL VOICES

19. SMITHSONIAN NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN ART

20. THE AMERICAN FOUNDATION FOR EQUAL RIGHTS

21. AMERICAN RED CROSS ONLINE DISASTER NEWS PORTAL

22. OVARIAN CANCER NATIONAL ALLIANCE

23. CHILDREN?S RIGHTS

24. INTERFAITH HOUSING ALLIANCE

25. KAISER FAMILY FOUNDATION

26. 90 DAYS OF ART

27. COOPER HEWITT SMITHSONIAN DESIGN MUSEUM

28. OFFICIAL CANADIAN OLYMPIC TEAM

Media & News

29. FORTUNE

30. DOW JONES

31. BUZZ MACHINE

32. LA TIMES: FRAMEWORK

33. IN STYLE

34. CNN

35. BOING BOING

36. TED

37. NEW YORK POST

38. USA TODAY: FOR THE WIN

39. TIME

40. THE NEW YORKER

41. BBC AMERICA

42. VARIETY

43. QUARTZ

44. HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW: BLOGS

45. WALL STREET JOURNAL LAW BLOG

46. SAP NEWS CENTER

47. REUTERS BLOGS

48. CNN POLITICAL TICKER

49. NEW YORK TIMES

50. FORBES

51. MACLEANS

Music, Sports, and Entertainment

52. MTV NEWS

53. LOLLAPALOOZA

54. USAIN BOLT

55. CHICAGO BULLS

56. BEYONCE

57. NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE

58. PLAYSTATION BLOG

59. CHANNING TATUM

60. IFC

61. THE ROLLING STONES

62. STAR WARS BLOG

63. SONY MUSIC

64. NBC SPORTS

65. ESPN PRODUCT BLOG

66. LARRY KING LIVE BLOG

67. KATY PERRY

68. THE WALKING DEAD

69. ANDERSON COOPER 360*

70. ARIANA GRANDE

71. THE MEREDITH VIERA SHOW

72. LL COOL J

73. KYLIE MINOGUE

Technology

74. EBAY

75. BEST BUY

76. THE OFFICIAL RACKSPACE BLOG

77. TECHCRUNCH

78. FACEBOOK NEWSROOM

79. GOOGLE VENTURES

80. MASHABLE

81. PROBLOGGER

82. RE/CODE

83. LAUGHING SQUID

84. LINKEDIN OFFICIAL BLOG

Universities & Colleges

85. BATES COLLEGE

86. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY OF ST. LOUIS SCHOOL OF LAW

87. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ? ROSSIER SCHOOL

88. DUKE CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

89. UNIVERSITY OF MAINE

90. UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS LITTLE ROCK

91. UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA: MBA@UNC

92. LAFAYETTE COLLEGE

93. GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY

94. HARVARD LAW

Lifestlye and Bloggers

95. CUTE OVERLOAD

96. MARIE FORLEO

97. HELLO GIGGLES

98. THE SARTORIALIST

99. LAUREN CONRAD

100. MAN REPELLER

101. BLOGILATES

102. SMITTEN KITCHEN

103. POSITIVELY POSITIVE

Do you use WordPress for your website too? Show us your site in the comments ? we?d love to see what you?re building!

WordPress.com or WordPress.org? How to choose the right one for your blog

October 12, 2014 By Jen Kehl

When I launched my blog?in 2012, I went about it like this: I Googled ?WordPress blog,? clicked a button?that said, ?get a free blog,? and I started rolling.

A year later, I realized I should have done more research. I wanted to change my site layout and add functions (like a hovering Pinterest button), and I realized (oh nooos!) I needed a ?WordPress.org blog? for that.

Getting a ?WordPress.org blog,? it turns out, really means downloading the free, open-source WordPress web software?and using a third-party hosting service?to get your site online.

WordPress.com, on the other hand, takes care of all that legwork for you. You don?t worry about hosting or serving up files, and your blog comes with a free domain that looks something like this: www.mynewblog.wordpress.com.

But when you hand over responsibility, you also lose control: your WordPress.com site will show ads unless you pay a yearly fee, and many upgrades, like hosting videos or buying a custom domain name for example, can get costly.

To add to the new-blogger confusion, when you?re working on your blog, the Dashboard (the place where you edit your blog from the back end) looks almost exactly the same no matter which avenue you take. Because WordPress.com runs on the same WordPress software as a self-hosted site, the user experience after setting up your blog isn?t that different.

Deciding between starting a free WordPress.com blog and self-hosted WordPress site is as simple as deciding how much freedom you want over your site?s look and feel, how much behind-the-scenes work you?re willing to do, and whether you want to monetize your blog.

1. How much control do you want over your site?s look and feel?

If you?re okay with an ?out of the box? theme [http://theme.wordpress.com/], WordPress.com might work for you. For an extra charge, you can customize some features, like fonts and background colors. Overall, though, you are limited when it comes to changing the design of your site.

If you?re looking at those themes and thinking, ?but I want my Instagram feed up higher and I?d like social media buttons above the top navigation,? you?ll want to go with a self-hosted WordPress blog so you can access your site?s layout and HTML.

2. What extra functionality do you want on your site?

Remember that anecdote about the Pinterest hover button I wanted? WordPress.com is always updating and adding new features, but you will have more control on a self-hosted site. Through WordPress.org, you?ll have access to libraries of plugins [https://wordpress.org/plugins/] that can add features like interactive calendars, social media sharing options, and RSS feeds?not to mention, Google Analytics?to your site. And by accessing your site?s code, your opportunities to add to and embellish features are unlimited.

3. Do you want to monetize your site?

?Oh wow, I have so many page views! Maybe I can make a little cash with ads!? Nope. Not if you?re on a WordPress.com site. They?re giving you a lot for free; it?s no surprise that you can only sell ads in WordPress-approved ways. On a self-hosted site, however, the world is your oyster?or, you know, your sales floor.

In addition, while, WordPress.com recently introduced new ways to sell on your site, eCommerce is more established and flexible with a self-hosted site.

4. How much can you spend?

Self-hosting is an upfront cost that ranges from a few dollars a month to closer to hundreds per year. But using a free WordPress.com blog and adding a lot of additional features can get pricey. Infographic cost comparison:http://howtomakemyblog.com/wordpress-com-org/

When it comes down to it, WordPress.com is a valuable tool for users looking for a free option, who don?t need to customize or make money off of their site. But getting a self-hosted site through WordPress.org provides the most flexibility, freedom, and opportunity for growth. And let?s face it, you?re going to want to use this site to become a moneybags, and WordPress.org allows more freedom for turning your hard work into cold hard cash.

What do you think? WordPress.com or WordPress.org?

This has been a guest post by the wonderful Randall of Crandlecakes and one of the awesome instructors at Skillcrush![bctt tweet=”To self host or to WordPress.com, check out these 4 reasons you might want to jump in! #WordPress”]

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