The Basics:

Don’t use a simple, short password!

This is probably one of the most simplest things you can do to make sure your blog is safe. Using a combination of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and symbols is going to make your password harder to crack – and the more, the merrier! I would recommend using a password no shorter than 8 characters long, and try to make it as long as possible. Most websites allow long passwords, so don’t be shy!

And, try to not use the same password for everything. I know this can be a tad annoying, but you can write them down so you don’t forget (in a safe place of course!). Accounts we don’t log into very often are generally the passwords we tend to forget. So, make them as difficult as possible to crack! If they’re written down, then you don’t have to remember every single password for every account. Make the ones you use on a regular basis easier to remember, but hard to crack. Then for the others, have the passwords in a safe place for the not-as-often occasion you need to login.

(If you do write down your passwords, don’t label what they are for too, just in case. Just keep a list so you know the possible passwords you have used if you happen to forget.)

Create a username other than “admin”.

A really typical username for WordPress blogs is “admin”, and if you’re about to create a blog, it’s best to use something other than that. If “admin” is the username, that is one less thing for a hacker to worry about when trying to hack into your account. So use something else!

If your blog was set-up for you, than you may have been given “admin” to use. Instead, go to Users > Add New and create yourself a new login account with a different username, making sure to give yourself the Administrator role and a strong, and different, password. Then logout and re-login with the new username. Now go back to Users and delete the user account “admin”. Make sure to select “attribute all links and posts to” and choose your new username in the drop-down list on the next page to transfer all your posts to your new username. Then delete the “admin” account.

Be sure to uncheck the “Anyone can register” option under Settings > General if you don’t want any other users than yourself using your blog. You can also control who is allowed to comment on your posts under Settings > Discussion, which can help stop spam.

And also note, if you’re going to have other users than yourself have access to the Admin back-end, be sure to assign proper user roles. You don’t want to give Administrator access to those that shouldn’t have it!

Plugins Can Help:

Here are some plugins that can help make WordPress more secure.

SI CAPTCHA Anti-Spam

SI CAPTCHA Anti-Spam adds a Captcha image to forms for “comments, registration, lost password, login, or all.” Users will have to look at the image and type the code that they see in the textbox. This is great for preventing spam, as well as added security.

Secure WordPress

Secure WordPress does a whole bunch of great stuff like hiding the version of WordPress you’re running, adds “index.php” to plugin and theme folders, also blocks bad queries, and more.

WP-DB-Backup

Now, if your WordPress blog does happen to get hacked or compromised, then this handy plugin will keep you from losing all your content. WP-DB-Backup allows you to backup your database where your posts etc. are stored. You’re able to backup to your computer whenever you like, and have an email sent to you with a backup either hourly, twice daily, once daily, or once weekly. If your database were to be compromised, you will not have to re-write all those posts!

Keep WordPress Up-To-Date:

Another easy thing to do is keep WordPress up-to-date. With a click of a button (if you have the user capabilility) you can update WordPress in less than a minute when a new update is released. There will be a message at the top of the Dashboard alerting that a new version is available, and you can update WordPress under Dashboard > Updates (as well as update themes and plugins, too!).

If you don’t have the capabilities to do so, make sure whoever developed the website for you either gives you the ability to do so, or updates it for you.

Updating doesn’t necessarily mean you’re 100% protected from hacks, but it does prevent hackers from exploiting old vulnerabilities in previous WordPress versions.

If possible, remove the “Admin Login” link.

Another way to add a bit more security is to remove, if possible, the link for logging into the Admin section. It is much better to go to the login page and save it as a bookmark than to have it available for hackers to get to.

Keep a Copy of Other Files:

Don’t forget to also keep track of the plugins and themes you’re using for your blog, with either a clean copy stored on your computer or the names written down. This way, if your blog is hacked, you can remove all the old plugin and theme files and reinstall them with clean ones. Generally, everything in your “wp-content” file you’ll want to keep a copy of, even if it’s not necessarily up to date – you can either install these copies and update within the Admin back-end, or search for the themes and plugins and install the latest versions from there. It’s better to have an outdated version than to have corrupted files!

It’s also a good idea to have any images you’ve uploaded stored on your computer, and keep a copy of the file “wp-config.php”. The rest of the files are all core WordPress files which can be restored with a fresh download of the latest version of WordPress.

Care to share?

What steps do you take to keep your WordPress blog more secure? If you have any comments or would like to share other plugins or strategies to help other web users keep their blogs safe, please comment below!

And, if you think you might have been hacked, check out the WordPress Codex for some steps on what to do next.

Now that I am back, I have some plans for my online portfolio coming up!

I am going to try to blog more frequently – I know I’ve said this before – and I know what my next post will be about, so watch for that coming soon! Also, I’m going to be doing a redesign. In January I start my final semester at Vancouver Island University, and I will be graduating in June. So, I think this is the perfect opportunity to do a redesign of my website before going out into the big wide world. I’ll begin working on it over the holidays, but I don’t plan to have it complete until closer to March/April, around there. There are features I like with my current design that I’ll keep and just tweak. Other things will have a more drastic or subtle change. I really don’t know yet, as I’m just in the brainstorming phase. But, that’s what’s coming up over the next 5 months or so!

That’s it for now, so… Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

One piece of technology that is always improving is the internet browser. Though there’s a handful to choose from – Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera, and others – many people stick with what’s pre-loaded onto their PC or Mac, and don’t bother to look at what is just out there.

And unfortunately, overtime old browser versions become out-dated, and they are unable to support the new web technologies that are available to users today. A specific one that comes to mind is Internet Explorer 6.

A decade old, it’s time to move on.

Internet Explorer was released in 2001, and in the web world a 10 year old browser is MUCH too old to still be in use. Now, you may have an old machine and can’t upgrade to the next version of IE. Or, you may be a bit timid of change, and would rather stick with what you know. But, the newer versions are very similar in use, they’re faster, have better security, and they provide you, the web user, a much better web browsing experience!

Even Microsoft has an IE6 countdown!

Upgrade that machine!

Computers are cheaper than ever these days. You don’t have to fork over the dough for a Mac if you don’t want to. Many PCs come as cheap as a few hundred dollars, and all you need to get is one that will be the most practical and useful to you. There’s no point in paying for all the fancy extras when you’re not going to need it! And, with this brand spanking new piece of technology in your hands comes the latest version of the pre-loaded browser – most likely Internet Explorer (or Safari on a Mac).

Now, IE9 is the latest version released, and it’s only available for Windows Vista and Windows 7 (as well as some other server installations). If you have Windows XP, you will have to upgrade, and it would probably be best to skip Vista and go straight to 7. Check if your computer can run Windows 7 or if you will need to upgrade your computer. Most likely, it would be possible to upgrade the computer, but it all comes down to how old it is, and if buying a new computer or laptop would be more practical. Think long-term – technology and the web will only continue to grow! It’s best to get the newest you possibly can for your budget so you won’t have to upgrade again too soon.

Download that new version. You’ll love it!

Now, maybe you don’t need a new computer or need to upgrade Windows. You may be running Windows Vista or 7, but don’t have the latest version of IE. I’m sure your computer would have asked you to update your browser – or maybe not. If it has, why haven’t you updated it yet?

There are many benefits to having the latest browser available to you. The newest versions of major browsers (IE, Google Chrome, etc) are starting to provide support for technologies that many websites, including this one, are starting to implement. If you have an old browser, you won’t be able to see any of these new features and will be missing out. And if your browser is really old (like IE6), your browsing experience may diminish and you’ll have trouble browsing parts of the web altogether. For example, Google is no longer supporting IE6 (since 2010) and certain products by them will no longer work properly. WordPress has also dropped support for IE6, and even gives a warning message in the Admin area when using an older browser such as IE7 or IE8.

You have choices!

Internet Explorer is not the only choice you have – there are many alternatives! The ones below are other major browsers used today, and they all support more of the newest technologies available on theweb than IE. You may have IE9 (or the latest version your machine can run), but you could still be missing out!

Google Chrome (My personal choice!)
Mozilla Firefox
Apple Safari
Opera

Or, at least download the latest version of Internet Explorer (or at least up to IE8 if still on XP!).

There ya have it.

So that is my take on internet browsers. I believe it’s important to keep up to date with the latest technologies. Computers don’t have to be updated all the time and many last for years, and can certainly be upgraded when required. Browsers on the other hand change more often. It’s pretty easy to update them (most do so automatically), and you won’t miss out on anything in your browsing experiences.

Your thoughts?

What’s your take on browsers and the web? Are you restricted by your computer or the wonders of the unknown? Leave your comments below!

Recently, there’s a new social media website that’s come into town, and it’s starting to get some attention, and though very new, it could have the potential to bring some heat, especially to Facebook. This is Google+.

If you haven’t heard of Google+ yet, then you should check it out. Of course, you can’t just join, not yet anyways. It’s by way of invitation only, or through the use of sending specific posts to those who haven’t joined yet, and they’ll receive an email with a link to sign up.

Personally, I found out about Google+ around a week or so ago through Twitter one morning. At the end of the day, I had two invites!

Google+ is much like Facebook in that you can send out posts, photos, videos, and share as little or as much information about yourself as you want, and you can put in restrictions as to who sees what.

Your friends however, are grouped into what’s called Circles – such as Friends, Coworkers, Family, etc. – and you can share your posts with all your circles, specific circles, extended circles, or even to the general public.

Google+ also has a feature much like Facebook’s “like” or Twitter’s “share”. It’s called +1, and you can +1 posts that people in your circles share. However, you can also +1 on other websites, and these will show up under your +1s on your profile – for example, if you +1 a YouTube video.

There’s other features too, including Hangouts and Sparks, which I have yet to use.

So far, I’ve only made a few posts on Google+, but I find myself checking it daily for some reason. There’s not a whole lot of activity, but even if I don’t check it, I often check my Gmail, and Google’s new black bar has a notification box on the right that lights up in red with the number of Google+ notifications inside it. Handy!

I don’t think Google+ is quite where it needs to be yet to be serious competition, but if anyone can turn it into something big, it would be Google. Only time will tell!

Custom theme!

My previous design was a child theme that I created off of Thematic, a theme framework. At first I liked child theming, but after learning how to create my own themes over the past few months in my directed study at VIU, I have a new love for custom theming. With creating your own theme, you have complete control over everything, and you don’t have to use CSS to hide things, or force things to be a certain way. There’s a lot less clunky stuff going on I guess you could say. You can also include or exclude certain components, such as comments.

A couple books that have helped me out with custom theming are Smashing WordPress: Beyond the Blog and Smashing WordPress Themes: Making WordPress Beautiful, both by Thord Daniel Hedengren. Both are great books, and I highly recommend them. There is a 2011 edition now of Beyond the Blog as well. And, I also can’t forget the help of the WordPress Codex.

HTML5 and CSS3, baby!

Technologies for the web are rapidly evolving, and it’s important as web designers and developers to stay on top of these as best we can. Though not fully implemented by all browsers, and of course not by older browsers, HTML5 is here and it’s here to stay. I have used HTML5 for my redesign, as well as a few other recent projects, and I will be using it in all projects from now on. There’s really no reason why we can’t use HTML5 now. With a little bit of CSS, and some JavaScript for Internet Explorer, HTML5 works. If you’re not convinced, check out HTML5 Doctor. There’s even some great books out there. I recommend Introducing HTML5 by Bruce Lawson and Remy Sharp (who are also a part of HTML5 Doctor), and HTML5 & CSS3 for the Real World through Sitepoint. Because the HTML5 spec is changing very often, books can have parts that become a little outdated quickly – mostly the spec definitions. Introducing HTML5 will be coming out in second edition in the fall. If you’re not wanting to spend the money on books because of the rapid spec growth, HTML5 Doctor would be one of the best resources as it does keep up-to-date with the changes. Of course, you can always go straight to the source at the W3C.

I have also used some CSS3 techniques that add some fun to my website. If you’re not sure what these might be, try hovering your mouse on the social media icons at the bottom of the page, or hover atop the featured projects on the home page. Those effects are all done with CSS3 transitions and transformations. If you’re not seeing anything kind of spinny or zoomy, it is either because you’re in an older version of your browser (such as an older version of Firefox), or your browser doesn’t support it yet (a big one is Internet Explorer).

I have also used things like box-shadow, text-shadow (though that’s technically not CSS3), and :first-child and :last-child structural pseudo-class selectors. Links you’ll notice also have an effect on them, done with CSS3 transitions (I apologize to Internet Explorer users, that’s just another thing that IE doesn’t support!).

A little jQuery love!

I haven’t used a lot of jQuery for my redesign. I use a bit of jQuery I learned from the Animated Scroll to Top article by Web Designer Wall. The :last-child structural pseudo-class selector isn’t recognized by IE (though :first-child is, odd isn’t it?) so that has a little jQuery backup for IE. And, search inputs have some jQuery to remove the text within when clicked.

Responsive design with media queries!

Though this is CSS3, this deserves it’s own little section just for how cool it is. There is a lot of talk about responsive web design now, and with so many different devices to view websites – desktops, laptops, tablets, mobile phones – it’s important that designers and developers look at making websites with different variations for these different devices, or make websites fluid and flexible to adapt to the devices, rather than using fixed-width layouts. I myself have used fixed-width layouts for a long time, usually trying to pick a width that isn’t too wide yet small enough for most common screen resolution (remember when we had to worry about 800×600?). However, there’s more to it all then just screen resolution based on the desktop or laptop size or settings (and different broswers, browser versions, colour rendering… the list goes on). Just because someone has a large screen resolution, doesn’t mean they browse the web with the browser window at full-width. And now with tablets and mobile devices becoming so popular, that is even a completely different situation to work with.

So, in comes media queries! If you don’t know what media queries are, I highly recommend these articles: Responsive Web Design, CSS3 Media Queries, and Adaptive & Mobile Design with CSS3 Media Queries. The first one is an excellent article from A List Apart on responsive web design, and covers using media queries. Personally, I found the article a little difficult to follow and understand with all the crazy numbers, but it’s a great read none-the-less. The next two are from Web Designer Wall, and the first gives an overview of media queries and some examples. The second I found extremely helpful, and simple to understand. Basically, you can, if you wish and as I have done, design your website as fixed-width for the largest width it will be. Then using media queries to target smaller specific screen resolutions (or browser width), you make the layout adapt as the screen/browser gets smaller using percentages, so the layout is fluid. Of course, it all depends on your layout so percentages will probably differ from the article. You can use pixels, but then your design will snap into place – unless that’s what you want!

Go ahead, and resize your browser, making the width smaller and smaller. Neat, eh?

Now you may be wondering about images. Like in the article explains, you just have to use max-width: 100% and height: auto on images (with a special line for IE8), and they will adjust accordingly, never going outside their containing element. The key, is to not state the image width and height in the HTML (and yes, that is okay semantically!). Max-width is supported by most browsers (I just found this helpful site recently for checking browser support), even IE7+. However, IE8 and below does not support CSS3 media queries. That’s where the JavaScript library comes in.

The end…

I have enjoyed working on the redesign of my website, and I love what I have done with it. I will probably tweak it some more, maybe add a few things or not, but overall it’s basically done! If you have any comments or suggestions please post a comment below!