Before doing any of the following it’ll be a good idea to back up your database. You can do this via phpMyAdmin (if you know what your’re doing) or there’s a handy little plugin called WP-DBManager which will do it for you and lots lots more. Whilst we’re on that note, please remember to back up your database every now and again, just in case!

1. Remove any plugins that you simply don’t use

Visit your Wordpress Admin site and click on Plugins > Inactive to find out which will be safe to remove. You should also take a look at your Active plugins as there might be some in there to delete as well (be careful though as they may be used somewhere on your site.

2. Update Wordpress to the latest version

You should see a warning at the top of Wordpress Admin page if you need to upgrade to the latest version. It’s a wise idea for security reasons to keep up to date. Here’s a handy guide to upgrading Wordpress.

3. Upgrade any out of date plugins

If there’re are newer versions of plugins available then you will see a little number next to “Plugins” in your Wordpress Admin page.

4. Find orphan options in your database

Luckily there’s a plugin for this, as hunting through a MySQL database – if you don’t know what you’re doing – can be a daunting task. So install Clean Options and select “Find Orphaned Options”. You’ll more than likely be presented with a huge list. Now, take your time and look at these carefully. If there’s any that are obvious then select them and delete. There’s also a useful search option where you can search for that option in Google – there you might be able to find out what it is and whether it’s safe to delete. Just because it’s an orphan file it doesn’t mean that it’s not being used by one of your plugins. So, really, just take your time with this.

5. Optimize your database

Download WP-Optimize and  remove all post revisions, clean marked spam comments, clean unapproved comments and optimize database tables. A great tool that can save a lot of space in your database. I got one site down from 16mb to 10mb.

6. Cache your pages and posts

Every time somebody views a post on your blog there are numerous scripts that have to be run each and every time. This can be very processor intensive and your web hosts won’t like you for it. So download WP Super Cache and use it. It will then only have to run a load of scripts once – then everybody else will see the cached version of the page. Don’t worry if you update it or somebody adds a new comment – it’s clever enough to then generate a new page.

7. Cache your Wordpress Widgets

Widgets work in a different way and so you’ll need another plugin for this called WP Widget Cache.  Now, I was a bit confused as to where the options were for this plugin but they are actually on the Widgets Admin page, above your widget.

8. Reduce the amount of Tags you use

Now, I think and I’m in the process of testing this but, I think that tags are a major problem with CPU usage and so I think you really need to reduce the amount you use. Don’t 20 or 30 tags for every article you publish – stick to a handful.

9. There isn’t really a ninth or tenth tip but 10 Top Tips sounds better than 8!

10. Keep your Wordpress site up to date

Upgade plugins when required, backup your database, backup your files every now and again, clean and optimize your database. If you do these things then everything should run smoothly.

I hope you’ve found this useful if so, then remember to retweet it or share it below. Also, be sure to check out another useful Wordpress post: How to Secure your Wordpress Blog

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It’s more than likely that your website will have a control panel (called cPanel) where you can set up new email addresses, password protect directory’s and do lots of other useful stuff. One of those being the ability to download a Backup of your Website and Databases. If you’re unsure whether you have a cPanel then contact your web hosts and ask. If you purchased a hosting package with Dare to Think then you will have.

Here’s what to do:

1. Enter your cPanel url into your browser (This is usually http://yourdomain.com:2082)
2. Enter your username and password (these will have been provided in your Welcome Email)
3. Under the “Files” panel click on “Backup Wizard”
4. Click “Backup” and then choose what you would like a backup of. If unsure select “Full Backup”
5. Select “Home Directory” as the Backup Destination, enter your email address and click “Generate Backup”. You will then receive an email your backup is available for download. Keep this page open in your browser.
6. Go back to the website and click “Go back”. You will then see your Backup available for download. Click this and save it somewhere safe on your computer, preferably an external backup drive.

So how often do you download a backup of your site? Well, it depends how often you update your website. If you update it once a week then I’d download a backup once a week. If less often then once a month should suffice.

It’s unlikely you’ll ever need to revert to a previous backup but it’s better to be safe than sorry, and it’s really not until something horrible does happen that you realise how important it is to backup your site.

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I’m a big fan of having a domain name local to your country when the majority of your business is conducted locally. If you’re based in the UK then choose a .co.uk domain name – that way your clients and customers know that you’re UK based. If you sell internationally or want to reach all 4 corners of the globe then a .com domain name is your best bet.

It doesn’t mean that because a website has a co.uk domain that they are UK based but it’s unlikely that they’ll be based elsewhere. With that in mind there are certain extensions that are local to a country but due to their desirability the whole world has started to buy them, such as .tv which is actually a local domain for the small island of Tuvalu in the South Pacific!

The problem you may face is availability. Don’t panic – simply look around for another catchy name and see if that’s available.

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Login to your websites’ cPanel and locate the “Default Address” section.

From there you will see a dropdown including all domains that currently point to your main webspace. Select one and check the “Forward to email address” radio button. Enter the email address, where you’d like to receive those emails, and click “Change”

Test it out by sending an email to your secondary email address – you can type anything before the “at” symbol.

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I’ve already jailbroken and unlocked my 2G iPhone so I wasn’t too worried when I performed the necessary actions to start running OS 3.0 and I’m happy to say the process went very smoothly and I’m now running what appears to be a lot smoother version of the iPhone OS. My only annoyance is that I’m unable to get the Bluetooth Audio Streaming to work through my car stereo – one of the major factors I upgraded in the first place!

So how do you do it?

Follow the How to Unlock/Jailbreak Your iPhone 2G on OS 3.0 Using PwnageTool (Mac) guide on iClarified which is a fantastic step-by-step guide on how to jailbreak and unlock your 2G iPhone. If you’ve a 3G model then use this guide.

Important notes before doing so

• Perform a final Sync in iTunes – as you’ll be restoring your iPhone to these settings at the end
• Backup any data that iTunes doesn’t store i.e. Cydia Apps such as Cycorder movies, dTunes music etc. To do this you’ll need to SSH to your iPhone – now this sounds a daunting task but it’s not – it’s really not. Follow this simple guide to SSH on your iPhone. Most of the stuff you’ll want to back up is stored in /private/var/mobile/Media
• Because iTunes won’t reinstall your Cydia Apps then it’s a good idea to download AptBackup on your iPhone – which makes a note of what Cydia Apps you’ve installed and then reinstalls them after the Firmware upgrade. Also a good idea to go into your Cydia App and click on Manage and then take screenshots of what’s in the Packages and Sources sections. Note: Take a screen shot by pressing the Power button and then press the Home button (you’ll see the screen flash and it’ll make a shutter noise)

Positives

• Speed: Everything seems to be a bit quicker i.e. opening and closing apps as well as keyboard access
• Copy & Paste: As usual Apple do this in a very user friendly way. Just double tap and drag the bars to copy – easy!
• Sync Notes: At last you can sync your notes!
• Logins: Save your login details for websites
• Search: There’s a spotlight search (swipe all the way to the left) and also you can search within Mail
• Landscape Mode: I’m not a huge fan of landscape mode but hey, you can do it now!
• MMS: Is now supported on the 3G iPhone (If you don’t have a 3G iPhone simply download SwirlyMMS from Cydia)

Those are just a few things I’ve noticed – I’m sure there’s lots of others.

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Install OpenSSH from your Cydia App

1. Connect to your iPhone from a FTP app such as Transmit or Cyberduck using the SSH (SFTP) Protocol. For this you’ll need to know what IP address your iPhone is connecting to your Wireless Network with (go into your iPhone Settings > Wi-Fi and click the arrow next to your Wireless Network then make a note of your IP address (it might be that your IP address is dynamic so check this again if your connection doesn’t initially work.
2. For the username and password enter “root” and “alpine”
3. Now, you should have access to your iPhone’s file structure – make sure you know what you’re doing though as you don’t want to remove anything that’s vital to the workings of the iPhone!

If your FTP App doesn’t find your iPhone (and mine didn’t straight away) you may need to open a port on your router. Again, not a tricky thing to do and it’s best to follow this guide to port forwarding on portforward.com.

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Most offer a free plan, along with paid plans, that offer a basic website monitoring service – which should be enough for most small sites. If you rely on your website for sales and it’s vital that it’s live 100% of the time then it’s worth having a paid subscription which will have far more options available to you such as receiving notifications via SMS.

It’s often the case that if your website is down then your email will be as well so use an email address not associated with the site you’re checking. A Gmail or Yahoo Mail address is ideal.

A few websites that offer free services are:

Pingdom: Without a doubt my favourite and also the most reliable, giving minute by minute tracking of your site as well as detailed stats via their site. You can receive notifications via email, sms and now even Twitter! You’ll also receive monthly emails with details of how long your site has been up for. Free for monitoring one site and then pay for more.

HostTracker: The free version checks up to 2 domains at 30 minute intervals. You’ll also receive weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly reports. The reports are very detailed and specifies how long, if any, your site was down for each day.

SiteUptime: The free version only tracks 1 domain at 30 minute intervals. Also receive a monthly report which is very basic giving downtime in hours, uptime in percentage and the amount of outages.

Montastic: My favourite. You can have up to 100 domains checked at 10 minute intervals for free. It’ll inform you when your site is down and then send a follow-up email to say when it’s up again. Extras include a free widget for both Mac and PC and RSS feed that will update when your site goes down.

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You will need the following information to hand:

• cPanel login details for your webspace
• Domain Registrar admin login details

Now you have those details complete the following:

1. Check the Name Server details of your current, main, domain. To do this visit Central Ops and click on “Domain Dossier”. Enter your domain details and click “Go”. Then make a note of those details.
2. Log in to your Admin Panel for your Domain name that you wish to point to your current webspace. From there locate the “Edit DNS Settings”. Then type in the same Name Server details as your main domain name currently uses. You will then need to wait for around 24-48 hours for the changes to take affect.
3. When the changes have taken affect login to your webspace cPanel and locate the “Parked Domains” section. From there enter the url of your secondary domain and click “Add Domain”. This will then appear in a list at the bottom of the page. Click “Manage Redirection” and enter your main domain’s url and click “Save”

To check the redirect enter your secondary url on the SEO Consultants site. This will then give you the response that domain has received from the server. You should see 301 Moved Permanently as the first response. If you do then all is good and functioning well.

Some domain registrars allow you to set up a 301 redirect direct from your admin panel. Many, including 1and1 do not, so you will have to go through the steps listed above.

If you’re still unsure about what to do then get in touch and we’ll be able to provide a free quote for redirecting your domains.

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If you’re unsure about anything or you’re a little scared to do it yourself then please get in touch where I’ll be more than happy to help or provide a quote for securing your Wordpress Blog. If you know of any other ways to increase the security on your Wordpress Blog then please leave a comment below for others to see.

Remove the ability to browse directories

For example enter www.yourblog.com/wp-content/plugins/ into your browser. If you’ve not yet removed this access then you’ll see a list of all your Wordpress Plugins. This isn’t good as hackers can locate plugins that have security issues and target them in their next attack.

Add the following text to your .htaccess file (usually located in your blog or site’s root directory):

Options All -Indexes

Remove the Wordpress Version Meta Tag

Add the following text to your Wordpress Theme’s “function.php” file. Or use this remove wordpress generator meta tag plugin:

<?php remove_action(‘wp_head’, ‘wp_generator’); ?>

Remove or disguise your “mailto” links

This doesn’t really affect the security of your site but merely helps to combat the ever increasing amount of SPAM you receive. A useful plugin for this is Spamshiv which masks any mailto links it finds on your site, automatically.

Set the minimum file and directory permissions

Your files will need a certain amount of permission rights for your blog to write files to your server. This can sometime leave them vulnerable especially with 777 set to your files and folders. Download the install the very useful WP Security Scan plugin which will tell you what your folders are currently set to and what they need to be set at to function correctly but also securing them at the same time.

Change or remove your “admin” username

Again, another one where hackers use the admin username and attempt a brute force password guessing attack. If you have a really secure password (minimum 12 characters using upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols) then there’s no need to worry but it might be worth changing the username to something less generic. Go into the Wordpress Users panel and see if there’s any posts attributed to the admin user. You can then delete that user but remember even if it says zero posts you may have created pages with that user so make sure you select “Attribute all posts and links to” and then select another user. Make sure you have another user on the list with administrator privileges. If there are then you’ll need to go into phpMyAdmin (accessible via your website’s cPanel) and locate your Wordpress Database (from those listed in the left column). Locate the and click users (from the left column – should be something_users). Tick the user_login checkbox and select the Browse tab. Click Edit (Pencil icon) and change the user_login text to something else. This will change the username and also replicate those changes to your Wordpress Admin.

Keep Wordpress and your Plugins up to date

This can help with security vulnerabilities that may occur in an older version. You will be notified that an update to Wordpress is available when you login to your Admin Site. Likewise, if there are Plugin updates available these will be shown in the Plugins Panel.

Change your Wordpress Database Prefix

Firstly before doing this make sure you backup both your site and your SQL database – at least then if anything goes wrong you can revert back. By default Wordpress adds a wp_ prefix to it’s database tables (if you haven’t installed Wordpress yet then this can be prevented by searching for “wp_” in the wp_config.php file to something less obvious such as “pju12tr_” or whatever you like – you can then continue with your installation) this needs to be changed to something less Wordpress orientated. Do this using the WP Security Scan plugin (mentioned above) or via phpMyAdmin in your website’s cPanel.

Deny access to you wp-admin directory

If you’re the only person that needs to access the Wordpress Admin Panel and you do so from one location, then it might be worth denying access to all other IP addresses. Your IP address can be found at What is My IP then add the following to your .htaccess file, located in the wp-admin directory (If no file exists then create a plain text file, name it .htaccess and upload it to that directory). The xx below need to be replaced with your IP address.

allow from xx.xx.xx.xx
deny from all

Remove the readme.html folder from your Wordpress root directory

There’s no need to have this on your server and it can contain version numbers and other useful info for hackers. Best to simply delete it.

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According to w3schools.com only 4% of users have their screens set to 800×600 and below, so is it time to design for those larger screen resolutions and forget about that tiny minority? Well, in most cases I’d say yes. Those visitors will still be able to navigate around your site and by designing for the smaller resolution you may simply not have enough room to fit all of your menu items and content without it all looking a little cramped and ruining the design and layout.

If you have a website already and have some comprehensive web statistics then it’s worth taking a look at what your real visitors view your website with and design your new site accordingly.

There are times where I would still design for the 800×600 display but that may be based purely on the amount of content and whether the design suits a smaller on-screen footprint. Remember, if you do go for a 1024 screen size then don’t feel you have to fill all of that space with content. Give your website room to breathe. The use of white space and larger margins can help with this and help the user find what they’re looking for with the minimum of of hunting.

The next thing to remember is the actual size of the space is not strictly 1024×768 – you have to remember the browser bar, bookmark bar, toolbar, status bar etc etc. You can’t really know what your visitor will have set but you can calculate the width of the browser. Remembering to include the scroll bar then make a note of the widths of the 2 most popular browsers on both Mac and PC.

Internet Explorer: Width = 1003px
Firefox (PC): Width = 1007px
Safari: Width: 1009px
Firefox (Mac): Width = 1009px

So with those figures, I’d then just give yourself a little bit of room and come out with a final width of 994px.

A really good idea, when designing websites, is to overlay your design on a real web browser. If you visit SizePuppy you can specify a browser size and SizePuppy will open a new window at those exact dimensions. Take a screenshot and use it in Photoshop (or whatever application you’re using). This will also give your client a greater idea of exactly how their site will look when finally live.

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