Stacy Duval

Website Design and Digital Marketing

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April 5, 2014 by Stacy Duval Leave a Comment

Playing with Harmogram

Filed Under: Web Design Tagged With: harmogram

April 5, 2014 by Stacy Duval Leave a Comment

Playing with Paper.js

Filed Under: Web Design Tagged With: paper.js

March 24, 2014 by Stacy Duval

WordPress Site Security

When I develop a site for a client, one of the things I talk about upfront is maintenance. Maintenance includes content updates as well as what I call security. All sites are vulnerable to being hacked but there are ways to reduce your risk.

Update

One of the great things about WordPress is it is constantly being updated. Many of the updates are security updates only. This means a vulnerability has been found nad the update fixes the problem. Not only WordPress but updates to plugins and themes as well must be updated frequently.

Setting up User Accounts

Hackers try to get into your WordPress account in many ways. One of the most common ways is through password phishing. Some procedures around User Account maintenance can reduce your risk:

  • Delete accounts not in use
  • Only use Admin accounts for administrative tasks
  • Use Editor, Author, Contributor and Subscriber Accounts

On the Server

  • Delete accounts not in use
  • Set up FTP accounts as SFTP
  • Disable password Authorization and use Key Pairs

WordPress Login

  • multi-factor authentication on wp-admin
  • two-factor authentication on wp-login.php

Password Management

  • 15 character password – this will take 3 months to crack
  • Make your passwords long, complex and unique
  • Use Password Managers such as LastPass
  • Come up with a scheme for passwords- Example of a scheme is to remember 20 characters, prefix the characters with the site name and end the sequence with some date.

Technical Methods for Reducing Risk

  • Kill Php Execution in the WP-Includes, WP-Content and Uploads Folders
  • <Files *.php>
    Deny from all
    </Files>

  • Modify the Wp-Config.php by Disabling the Plugin / Theme Editor
  • Define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT',true);

  • or disable the plugin / theme updater and installer
  • Define('DISALLOW_FILE_MODS',true);

Use Plugins

  • Sucuri Security Plugin
  • Theme-Check
  • BackupBuddy
  • Akismet
  • Limit Login Attempts
  • Wordfence
  • Activity Monitor

Support Forums

  • Hacked
  • Malware
  • Badware Busters

Online Resources

  • Sucuri Blog
  • SiteCheck Scanner
  • Unmask Parasites
  • Perishable Press
  • Secunia Security Advisories

Filed Under: Web Design Tagged With: maintenance, security

November 27, 2013 by Stacy Duval Leave a Comment

Tutorial for WordPress SEO

SEO-box

This is the data you need to enter for search engine optimization. The first row is titled Snippet Preview. This will be what you see in the search page. This will change as you enter data in the other fields.

The second row is titled Focus Keyword. This is a keyword or two or three words that describe the page content. You want to have unique keywords for each page. For example: youth link, petaluma bounty or home health care.

The third row is the SEO title. This usually should not change and you can leave the default.

The fourth row is the meta description or the 156 paragraph underneath the title and URL of the page. This is important because when the searcher reads this paragraph it has to lead him or her to the page. This is where your copywriting skills come into play.

We will not be using the fifth row.

My suggestion is to start trying to fill in the Focus Keyword and the Meta Descriptions. You get better as you go or you can even hire Austin SEO agency to get the job done for you. Don’t worry about the Page Analysis. You only have to fill in the two rows Focus Keyword and Meta Descriptions. You will come back to the pages you did in the beginning as you become better at creating the 156 character paragraph.

SEO-instructions

Filed Under: Web Design Tagged With: SEO, tutorial, wordpress, WordPress SEO

October 2, 2013 by Stacy Duval Leave a Comment

Beginning Theming

If you want to learn how to create your own WordPress theme here are some of my favorite videos:

 

Filed Under: Web Design Tagged With: WordPress custom themes

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Recent Posts

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Contact Stacy

707-849-2702

Recent Posts

  • How to Write Your Content
  • Free Online Tools I Use All the Time
  • How to switch your WordPress site from HTTP to HTTPS
  • Unlocking a locked Gravity Form
  • How to add a Math Challenge Question to a Gravity Forms Contact Page

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