Thoughts | Life | Photography – Page 27 – Blogging about life around me and in me

Securing your Website.

June 21, 2013 by Jide Ajayi • Issues •

picture of sucuri site scanner

I am learning more and more about WordPress and how it works especially the aspect of securing the website.
With the hit that I have had from the SEO-hogging and bouncing malware I needed to learn fast to ensure that my website functions properly and does not infect anybody’s computer while using the website.
So as a fallout of my experience, I have the following list of the things that I believe will make the administration of your website better and trouble-free.

Use Plugins
WordPress is a very customizable application that takes the heavy lifting out of web design and programming. Out of the box, it comes with about 2 − 3 plugins that are quite useful. Other than the Hello Dolly plugin which makes the admin space a bit lively, the Akismet plugin is a must as it allows you to filter out spam comments that will hit your site once you are up and running. I think it is a must.
With just these plugins, your site is going to be as basic as the theme you are using will allow.
The Plugins page allows you to search the WordPress.org repository for different types of plugins that can address your need at the particular point in time. As most of the plugins are free, don’t be tempted to install everything you see because other that the possibility of conflict, there is the issue of loading your site with unnecessary files which will end up slowing down the response of your website. Also, for plugins that you are not using, just go ahead and delete them rather than leave them deactivated. Example of a useful plugin is Custom Contact Forms to allow people reach your with their comments

Screen Plugins
Since the plugins are free and they are found in the WordPress repository they must all be safe right? Wrong! The plugins are not designed by WordPress but just hosted with the belief and expectation that they are not malicious. Unfortunately, since WordPress is open-source and the plugins are the same, there is the likelihood that people with nefarious intents can hijack the plugins and plant their malicious codes which is then installed by the unsuspecting enduser. So screen plugin file before you install them. Read the comments on the plugin’s page to see if there is any complaint, check through the code if you have the skill to see if there is anything there that looks strange. After activating the plugin, check to see if anything has changed in the behavior of the website like is it loading slower, are there adverts you now nothing about, is it redirecting people to your 404 page or to another website. Example of a useful plugin is Sucuri Security

Know your files
This is one aspect that is very important for your website. Try and have a back up of your website after the 1st install. This allows you to have the vanilla version of the website especially the WordPress files. If any plugin modifies the file in any way, drops a new folder in your installation as a back door, you can easily find it and remove it. Also important, you want to make sure that you update your WordPress installation as soon as possible after an update release. Example of a useful plugin is WordPress Database Backup

Practice safe development
Develop a plan to verify the state of your website by checking its status in well know security websites. Before then, it is also important to ensure your workstation is clean and free of viruses and malware by checking your system regularly and doing a routine scan of your system.

Hopefully the information above will help you keep your website safe.

Multi-tasking

March 30, 2013 by Jide Ajayi • Life •

It has been a very wonderful month. I have had a grossly busy time at work and at home, I’ve had to juggle learning about Solar panels their benefit, the installation types, the cost and what a good step up will be like, the details I will post sometime in the future.
Also, there was the issue of revising the school term’s work with the kids and giving them a mock exam, that had its own challenge and coupled with the other issues of trying to be better at using Lightroom 4 and improving the design of the blog.
The month has been a great one in terms of the things I have learnt.
SO I look forward to April 2013 where hopefully I will do more writing.

(G)Mail Management – Mailbox

February 26, 2013 by Jide Ajayi • Life • Tags: apps, iPhone, mail management, mailbox •

I’m sure by now you must have heard and read about the Mailbox app.
It is a new server supported app that allows you to take care of the mail in your inbox.
When you go to the website you are asked to put in your phone number (they accept phone numbers from around the world not just the US which to me is a very strong point) and as soon as you submit it, you get an SMS saying your Mailbox is confirmed. If you go ahead to download the iPhone app, it will ask you to put in the private code sent to you. Once you do that the app will tell you where you are on the waiting list. All you have to do from then is just wait until your opportunity comes.

Currently the app supports just the Gmail so once you are allowed to use the service, you get to experience email management as defined by mailbox.
What I love about Mailbox is the ease with which it allows you to manage your email. Once I put in my gmail credential, Mailbox showed me how it works in terms how manage my mail. Swipe to the right to archive, long swipe to the right to delete. Swipe to the left to read it later or long left to add it to a list. Also, the various functions are color coded so that as you swipe you can see and know what you are doing.
After that I was asked if I wanted to send all the mails in my inbox to the archive I told it to go ahead. After a short time I had zero mails in my inbox.
For the mails that came in after that it was just a case of swiping to the left or to the right and I was managing my inbox.

I tried to use the Gmail app to manage my mail and found out that it involved more steps doing the same thing you did with just a swipe.
I just love the way Mailbox work and it is now my preferred way to handle mail in my Gmail account.
One more thing, the app allows you to manage more than one gmail account at a time.
If you have not registered and you have an iPhone please make use of the opportunity.

SIM Card Failure and Do Not Disturb

January 31, 2013 by Jide Ajayi • Issues, Life • Tags: iOS 6.1, iPhone 5, life •

iOS 6.1 updated screen — This shows that the phone is updated

New iOS 6.1 has been out for a few days now and some things have been improved by Apple in the area of maps, lock screen music player as well as the LTE update that seems to be the main driver for the update.

I was quick to update my phone as soon as I saw the update because I was hoping that Apple would have made improvements to the battery consumption issue that came with iOS 6.02. I have not seen any change in the rate of recharge based on use but I have noticed something else.

This has to do with the Do Not Disturb function. When I activate the mode and it is activated, when I get up in the morning, I get one form of SIM card failure or the other. I did not have this problem before now but it’s something that is of interest.

Update: The new update 6.1.2 seems to have dealt with the issue