WARNING:WordPress Security Problem – Update
And Backup!

Friday, November 13th, 2009 at 11:44 pm  
Comments (4)

Apparently there is a security hole in WordPress that allows hackers into your hosting account. To secure everything, you need to update to the latest version 2.8.6 of WordPress immediately:

Here is a video from Youtube with a quick explanation followed by the WordPress statement:

“WordPress 2.8.6 Security Release

Posted November 12, 2009 by Ryan Boren. Filed under Releases, Security.

2.8.6 fixes two security problems that can be exploited by registered, logged in users who have posting privileges.  If you have untrusted authors on your blog, upgrading to 2.8.6 is recommended.

The first problem is an XSS vulnerability in Press This discovered by Benjamin Flesch.  The second problem, discovered by Dawid Golunski, is an issue with sanitizing uploaded file names that can be exploited in certain Apache configurations. Thanks to Benjamin and Dawid for finding and reporting these.”

Why not do it now! And don’t forget to backup first.

See my previous post – http://dave-whittle.com/internet-marketing/how-to-backup-your-wordpress-blog

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How To Backup Your WordPress Blog

Tuesday, August 18th, 2009 at 7:51 pm  
Comments (14)

I am sure that most marketers are aware that it makes sense to backup your computer.

Anyone who has stared at the BSOD, otherwise known as the Blue Screen Of Death, will know all about that sinking feeling that you get when you realize you may well have lost everything on your computer.

If it is not lost then it could be if you have to reload your operating system.

I have had that sinking feeling twice on two different computers so you may well understand that I like to backup. Lesson hard learned!

Problems can occur for any number of reasons from system failures to hacking so it makes sense to backup your blog as well where you may have lots of content which has taken you a lot of hard work, a lot of time, some frustration and so on.

I have been researching the options available so I can start taking backups regularly and get some peace of mind.

There seems to be three main options and these are:

  • the built-in Export feature on WordPress
  • WordPress backup plugin
  • manual database backup

Option 1 is quick and easy and shouldn’t present any problems however there are limitations:

  • will only backup users, posts, comments and categories
  • will not backup links
  • is limited to 64MB upload limit

You can do this by going to your blog admin, then go to “Tools” and click on “Export”. You will then be taken to an “Export” page.

There all you have to do is click on “Download Export File”. You will then be taken to your normal pop-up where you can open or save file.

Save file to  your Desktop or any other place that is convenient to you.

Option 2 is a downloadable plugin which will backup your entire site not just the database, can schedule backups and can also email the backup to you.

Limitations are:

  • you can only restore manually using something similiar to PHPMyAdmin as there is no restore function in WordPress
  • a greater learning curve

NB. at the time of writing this there are some compatibility issues with the latest WordPress update (2.8.1) which I am sure will be fixed soon.


Option 3 is a manual backup and would probably be more suitable to people who are comfortable with PHPMyAdmin via CPanel.

Not really for inexperienced people.

Having said that I came across an excellent video which may encourage you to have a look at manual backups. It is about upgrading your WordPress blog but has a lot of excellent advice about backing up your blog first.

Well, that is the results of my research into backing up a WordPress blog.

I hope it helps and I would welcome any comments which improve on this or otherwise.
Good luck!

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How To Save Money On Ink Cartridges

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 at 2:25 pm  
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One of the costs that really bothers me is the price of print cartridges and the number of times I have to replace them.

I have seen people mention $25 for a cartridge, and upwards in the US.

I wish! Twice that price that here.

Anyway, to cut to the chase, I came across a tip a couple of days ago which extends

the life of your cartridge by about 3 times but which also prints a lot faster.

You will hear new sounds from your printer!

I am sure some people are aware of this, but the tip is as follows:

When you wish to print, you click on File, then Print.

This box then appears:

2009-07-14_1459

Click on properties, as shown.

2009-07-14_1501

You will then find that it is set to “General Everyday Printing” by default.Click the drop down menu and you will

see an option for “Fast Economical Printing”. Click on this.

2009-07-14_1503

Now click “OK” and you are ready to go.

You will have to do this every time as far as I can see .

This will vary depending on both your system and computer but you should be able to find your way around following these instructions.

I have tried this for a few days and I have found that on my system B&W looks perfect, colors slightly faded.

I think this is a great tip for me. Obviously, if you are printing your best family photographs you will not use this.

I hope this helps somebody to reduce their online costs.

Update:

I have now found that you can set your printer to stay on “Fast economical printing” by doing the following:

Go to your “Control Panel”, click on “Printers and Other Hardware” (this may vary with your system) and go to your installed printer(s).

Highlight your printer and you should see a left side bar with the title “Printer Tasks”.

Click on “Select Printer Preferences” and there you can set your preferences as default.

This may vary with your operating system but this should give you an idea of the way to set your preferences.

Article inspired by www. ChrisFarrellOnline.com

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