WordPress articles
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Know your numbers: site visits
Before we dig into the 3 options, let’s first cover why site visit stats are helpful. WTF is a site visit? Well the bad news is that different tracking options define it a bit differently, but the good news is that the idea is the same overall. A site visit is a unique individual coming to your website. How things get a bit varied is what each tracking option defines as unique. For some, it’s device specific (tied to your laptop or smartphone), while for others it’s IP address specific.…
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Changing your WordPress domain
Note: not every host is the same, so these steps might not match your hosting requirements. These steps work for most budget-friendly hosting companies like GoDaddy, HostGator + Bluehost. If you’re unsure about any of these steps, chat with your hosting company before making changes. Changing your website URL or domain name can seem a bit daunting, but it doesn’t have to be super tough. This post will guide you through the general steps you’ll need to take, assuming your hosting company doesn’t have any steps of their own added…
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The things you want to be backing up
WTF is a backup First things first, let’s talk about what a backup is before we dig into what you need. A backup is a copy of whatever you are backing up at that exact moment in time. For my fellow iPhone users, that means it’s the apps, settings + texts you have on your phone at the moment you run your backup. Any apps you install after that, or texts you send/receive later in the day will not be included in the backup you ran in the morning. For…
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Using WordPress user roles the right way
We’ve talked about why the default admin account is bad news bears for your WordPress site. Now it’s time to get a tiny bit more nerdy with your site’s user account settings. Specifically, with WordPress user roles + how you can make the most of them. Out of the box, WordPress has 5 different user roles that you can assign to new user accounts. These roles control what a user has access to on the dashboard, along with what they can do with your site’s content. Let’s run through them from…
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Running one backup isn’t enough
As online entrepreneurs, we’re always tweaking, refining, updating, adding to + removing items from our WordPress sites. Whether it’s a new blog post or a refreshed about page, you’re likely making changes weekly. Which means that single backup you did months ago is missing at least 8 updates + it’s time to run multiple backups. Websites are never done. If you lost your site today to a hacker or crappy server circumstance, you’d be protected from losing everything with that old backup (phew!). But you’d still be out a few…
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Automatic WordPress site backups
Those that have a backup of their site are leaps ahead of other online entrepreneurs that don’t store a copy of their WordPress site in case of emergency. And anyone who has a calendar or to do list reminder to run a fresh update every month or so is even further ahead. The business owner that doesn’t have to think about their backups being run because it’s being done for them is not only ahead of everyone else, they are also freeing up their time + brain space for other…
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Keep your WordPress login screen secure
Limit login attempts My favorite bonus recommendation for securing your WordPress login screen is to setup a login limiter. In less nerdy terms, this tool gives users a set number of attempts to login. If a user goes over that number, they are banned from trying again for a set length of time. They may even be blocked from your site entirely if your restrictions are set to do so. Why does this help? The biggest culprit for hacked WordPress sites is brute force attacks — meaning a bot trying…
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Run WordPress plugin updates without breaking your site
Outdated plugins leave you vulnerable While there are plugin updates that exist purely to add new features + functionality to a plugin, there are just as many that fix security issues. Which is why plugin updates are crucial to take care of as an online business owner. If your site has a staging version, follow the steps below on that site first. Doing so will ensure that your live site runs flawlessly while you tackle those updates. Once you know everything is good to go, then you can run the…
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Don’t share your WordPress login information
Every client that we work with at tiny blue orange provides us with login details for their WordPress website. But we tell them “don’t share your WordPress login with us!” Instead of asking them to email their username + password, we ask them to create an account just for us. And it has everything to do with security. It might seem convenient to have a single account to manage… What happens if a member of your team enters disgruntled territory? If you’re able to change your password before they do…
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WordPress themes are not collectibles
I’m a bit of a collector. Growing up I had a stamp, rock, bracelet + beanie baby collection. As a teenager my biggest collection was my kangaroo shoes — the ones with the pockets — I had 21 different pairs at my craziest proudest moment. So when you keep hoarding your WordPress themes like they’re gonna suddenly stop making them, I get it. I really do. But today’s dose of tough love is that you do not need more than 3 themes installed on your site, ever. And many of…
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Nerd alert: creating a client intake process
What happens when someone is interested in your services? Do you get a Facebook message in your “other” folder or an email sent to your already hectic inbox? Is it then your responsibility to respond with instructions to fill out an attached PDF? When starting out, so many business owners rack up a high email count going back + forth with leads. They spend a good chunk of their time trying to figure out what the person is looking for, if they’re a good fit + what time they can…
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3 things you must secure before your next launch
Even though you may feel like your launch task list simply cannot hold one more thing, you must make room for securing these 3 areas of your next launch. The good news is that they are quick tasks + will often fit into existing to do items that you already need to accomplish. Your customers’ payment info I’m starting with the biggest one because it needs to be given your full attention. If you are collecting payment from anyone for anything, you must give a fuck about security. If you…