WordPress is a popular publishing platform and it is quite simple to use. WordPress has a focus on aesthetics, usability and web standards. And best of all - it is free. WordPress plugins can do almost anything and everything that you want. There is a wide array of plugins which are available. They allow you to extend the functionality of the blog more than what the installed software offers.
There are literally thousands of WordPress plugins which you can use and every day there are many more being introduced. Of course all are not useful and if you are not careful these new plugins may even create a mess of your blog. You have to research and find out which WordPress plugins are useful and which are not, which ones suit your requirements and which ones are best avoided.
One of the better WordPress plugins is WordPress Cache. It can store your WordPress pages in a static file. You can use this any time you want directly, rather than loading and compiling the whole thing again. If you have high traffic flow and your performance server is rather slow, then this is the right plugin for you. WordPress plugins are very useful and there are so many of them that you would probably need to research all of them and find the right ones that fit in with your blog.
Another WordPress plugin which will help you to do business easily is the WP e-commerce plugin. It is very easy to set up and takes just a few minutes to do so and you can begin your selling or marketing right away. If you want to add good page navigation to your WordPress blog then WP PageNavi is a good one to use especially if you have a lot of posts on your website. This plugin will help your visitors to navigate properly and move from page to page easily.
If you feel that a rating system to your page is a good idea then WP Post Ratings is a good plugin to go in for. This allows each user to rate your post and tell how good or bad it is. It is elegant and powerful if configured correctly. These are just a handful of WordPress plugins and there are so many more such as Digg This,Twitter etc., - the list goes on. It may be difficult for you to sift through them and choose the right ones. Also there are chances that the plugin you favor may not appeal to your readers and clients. There are also a few plugins which do the same job and you have to choose the best among them.
Avoid using a plugin which is complicated as it may confuse your clients. In some cases you may even have plugins which are tailor-made for you. You don’t have to go in for one just because it is there. With so many newer ones coming in, you do have a pretty wide choice. You have to decide exactly what you want to convey through your website and then choose a plugin which will produce the best results. By adequately focusing on what you want to achieve by using specific plugins you will be able to design an attractive and functional blog for yourself.
As a WordPress blogger the most senseless thing that you can do is leaving your blog unsecured. It’s like letting every visitor use your home for whatever activity they want. Many people don’t pay attention to this critical aspect. The security of your WordPress blog is crucial once it has been created. There should not be any loopholes for hackers to steal or destroy your data and information. When your blog gets hacked into, the user input is not filtered out by the software properly. Some attacks may use bots which can create hundreds of spam pages on your blog automatically. Not only this, even your password is vulnerable if your blog is hacked.
Hackers take advantage of the open-source nature of WordPress to analyze the specific source code of the software they want to attack and then test it for potential vulnerabilities. Every website or blog on the internet is usually vulnerable to hacking and other exploits such as malwares, unwanted links etc. But why are these websites so vulnerable and is there no exception to it? There are always unscrupulous elements prowling around on web space waiting for an opportunity to slip through any lapses of security.
The websites which run blog scripts or those employed for content management system software are more prone to vulnerability. The software used is also online along with your content, so if there is any security ambiguity in the software then that could be employed by the hacker for malpractices.
Here are a few guidelines that will help to make your WordPress blog more secure.
Signs to watch out for:
The hacked blogs are generally defaced.
The hackers corrupt the blog with hidden links pointing to their sites. Google gives a higher rank to a site according to the number of links which point to it. Basically their purpose is to make their site appear more important to the search engines.
The hackers also corrupt the unsuspecting blogger’s personal computers, who visit your site, by attaching many kinds of malware which automatically get installed.
But not all blogs get hacked, and that too not all the times. You can make your blog hacking-free by being vigilant and putting in security measures. Here are some methods to secure your WordPress blogs:
- Use security-related plugins like BS-WP-NoVersion, Login Lockdown, AskApache, WP Security Scan, etc. - Use WordPress firewall.- Rename the administrative account.- Backup your database.- Tighten up the file permissions.- Encrypt all communication within “wp-admin” directory.- Constantly update your WordPress Blog and its plugin to latest versions.
- Encrypt your login. - Use a strong password.- Protect your wp-admin folder.- Remove WordPress version info.- Hide your plugins folder.- Change your login name.
- Define user privileges.
In spite of all the risks of hacking we enjoy blogging, and if we put some basic security measures in place we can reduce the risks to an extent. Remember, to keep abreast of the latest security updates and use them while blogging.
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