Monthly Archives: September 2013

3 things I’d like to see WordPress implement

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Those of you who are regular readers of my blog know how big a fan I am of WordPress. That being said, I have a few things I’d like WordPress to implement.
 

  1. Revisions: The ability to see and revert to previous revisions for posts and pages is spectacular. It allows you to fix errors and go back. This happens quite often, as WordPress is so user friendly, non-technical users can make their own changes and add content. But people make mistakes and you need to be able to fix them. But under Appearance > Editor you can make changes that can do irreparable harm to your site. This forces you to either revert to a full backup (if you have one), and that is not always ideal. So if WordPress could make it so you can see revisions of all files, that would make life easier.
  2. Plugins: Another thing I would love to see is a little bit more testing of plugins. Part of the problem is that some plugins have updates that can really screw up your site. For instance, one of my very favorite plugins has always been the NexGEN gallery. However, lately it has had severe problems and people have been left with broken galleries and/or missing functionality such as lightbox effects. It would be great to be able to roll this back to a previous working version. Perhaps even a reporting system for WordPress so when a bad plugin update is is out there, people can report it and WordPress can temporarily disable the update until the bugs are addressed.
  3. Security:  As WordPress is so popular, people are constantly trying to hack your site. WordPress should take steps to harden the software. First off, forbid the username “admin”. Some of the software installation programs install with the default username of admin.  (I will go into client sites and change this in the database, but non technical users can’t do that). WordPress should just ban the username admin and make secure passwords mandatory. I also think some of the security plugins are excellent. I think WordPress should consider purchasing one of the excellent ones like Wordfence and make it part of the core offering.

 
I would love to know what you would like to see WordPress implement. Please leave me your opinions below.

 

Clean out your (website) closet

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Every once in a while you look at your bedroom closet and realize that you have a lot of things you rarely (or never) wear. Unless you are going to an 80’s party (or even 70’s), it is time to clean out the closet. I was faced with this task this weekend. I found a lot to give to charity, and the result is more room and better organization.

So what does this have to do with your website you ask? Well, as a web guy, most things I do make me think of parallels in the web world. I got to thinking and the same thing that applies to your closet, also applies to your website. Every once in a while, clean it out.

Here’s a short list:

  • Delete old drafts, and pages not being used.
  • If you take comments, you probably have tons of spam. Delete them.
  • If you have several old backups, thin out the folder to a few.
  • Go through and read your content, yes all of it. Make sure it is up to date and relevant.
  • Change passwords, and go ultra-secure. If you use wordpress, make sure you aren’t using ‘admin’ as your username. Also on the wordpress security front, make sure you have a good security plugin as well. Make sure all plugins and versions are up to date. if you have plugins you aren’t using, de-activate and delete.
  • Take a fresh backup of all content and databases.

No one enjoys cleaning out their closet, or things like spring cleaning. But it does make your life easier, and in the case of a website, safer.  Try to to utilize my list a couple of times a year, you will be happy you did.