WordPress

  • HTML5 and Genesis 2.0 – Get the SEO Edge

    When WordPress 3.6 rolls out, it will include HTML5 markup code in the core. Right behind that release will be the Genesis 2.0 premium framework to take advantage of the new features. Since it’s not likely that you own a theme that can make use of HTML5, and since all browsers don’t support it yet, you may be wondering why you’d want to go to the trouble of updating your theme. In a word, microdata, that’s why. Microdata talks to other machines, like search engines, and tells them more about the content being indexed. In other words, microdata is candy for Google and your content will be surrounded by it. When you help Google, it helps you. See how adoption of HTML5 will give your site an SEO leg up in your niche and put you ahead of your competition and seen in SERPs.

  • 10 G+ Plugins for WordPress Comments and Imports

    When Google introduced G+ Comments for Blogger, it caused quite a stir among WordPress users. They felt left out. But it didn’t take developers very long to produce several G+ related plugins for WordPress beyond adding a +1 button to the site. I found five plugins for adding comments, and five plugins for import/export of your blog posts to G+ or G+ activity to your blog, including some that also bring in comments. They all work differently, and some work far better than others. Plus, there are caveats to using any of them because none are officially sanctioned by either WordPress or Google. And, at least one may break Google’s Terms of Service.

  • Post Formats Pulled from WordPress 3.6 Core

    The new Post Formats UI feature for WordPress 3.6 has been pulled from the core and relegated to a plugin. Mark Jaquith announced the change on the Make WordPress Core blog yesterday, saying that it was a “hard decision” and that an “overwhelming consensus had been reached among the core developers” that the new UI, or User Interface was just not ready yet. This is the piece of the puzzle that has delayed the timely release of version 3.6. Jaquith said he should have made the decision to pull it earlier, but that letting it stay in would have been a worse mistake. Read on for the extraction plans and what this means for your site.

  • What Will it Take for You to Get Serious About Site Security

    The global brute force attack is real. And it’s compromising sites left and right. I’ve been contacted by eight non-training clients to repair their site in the past 48 hours. All hosting companies have been hit. There is no such thing as a bullet proof site. There are several good precautions you can take, but only one real way to protect your site. Do you have to lose your site or your online authority and reputation before you get serious about site security? You’re an online business owner. Wake up and smell the attack bots. If you owned a brick and mortar would you leave the front door to your store wide open? Here are real-world examples of what’s happening right now and what you can do to protect all of your hard work.

  • Out with CommentLuv and In with G+ Comments

    I’ve had CommentLuv Premium on a trial run for the last several months. It definitely had an impact on the number and type of comments I received on my blog. It’s also caused me a lot of work, which I wasn’t expecting. I’ve decided to remove it and in this post I’ll tell you why, along with tips for how to. And, I’ll give the skinny on the new Google Plus Comments plugin that everyone is talking about and why you don’t want to install it yet, the hurdles it will have to overcome, and why it promises to be a game changer like no other.

  • Global Brute Force Attacks on WordPress Sites

    For the past week there has been a rolling brute force attack on all major host providers that specifically targets the login of WordPress sites. According to the report by HostGator, it was a well-coordinated attack with over 90,000 IP addresses involved. The symptoms are a sluggish admin area after login, slow speeds, or trouble logging in. Read on for the steps that you can take to protect your site now and in the future.

  • Social Media Widget Plugin Injecting Spam

    On April 9th, 2013, the Sucuri blog reported that the Social Media Widget WordPress plugin was hiding spam and could inject it into your website. It has also since been removed from the WordPress Plugin Repository. In this video, I’ll show you what you need to do before you delete the plugin that will save you a ton of time. And I’ll show you how to set up another plugin called the Social Sharing Toolkit that pulls double duty for social follow and share.