Triune Designs Blog: Web Design, Development, & Marketing

In what I hope is my last post (for a while) concerning website security, this is a tale of two websites. I know I have been writing about your website’s security, but this has been a growing issue for the (self-hosted) WordPress community lately. My intention is to make sure our community and friends are properly educated about some simple solutions to better protect themselves.

Website 1: Updated WordPress Version
This website owner updated their version of WordPress. A minor error in the administrative settings allowed a hacker to register as a user. Because the software was up to date, the hacker got no farther than joining as a subscriber. No damage was done, no reinstalling of files was needed, and no major overhauls were warranted.

Website 2: WordPress Was Not Updated
The WordPress admin for the second website did not upgrade their WordPress platform. The same minor error mentioned above allowed the hacker to register as a user. However, since the software was out of date the hacker was then able to change themselves to an administrator. They then added other fake users, hid new admins they created, and changed various settings. They also changed the permalink structure to redirect users to potentially harmful websites. An afternoon’s worth of work was required to completely sanitize the website to make it safe once again.

The Importance
Weeks ago, the WordPress community found a hole in the security and the issue was promptly fixed. Once it was resolved, an update was distributed. In fact, the past two software updates included this security patch. People who had not updated their software recently were exposed to the worm and a lot of website owners have been affected. They felt the affect of not staying on top of their updates. The rest of the community was more protected from the attack.

If you want to read more about the importance of updating your WordPress software, Matt Mullenweg wrote a good article on the WordPress blog.

Please let me know if you have any questions concerning your current version of WordPress or if you are confused about updating your version of WordPress.

Stay safe out there!

A while ago I read a blog post by a well-known blogger who was irritated by people commenting that they were unsubscribing to his blog. The readers were unsubscribing because they felt he was getting off track from the blog’s main focus. His response to them? “See ya. I am better off without you.” While he was at it, he also pointed out that the blog was his and he could write whatever he wanted.

For me it raised an important question: whose blog is it?

His Blog
It should be noted that his blog is a semi-personal one and not a business blog like this. (However, since he makes part of his living through his blog I am counting it as part business/part personal.) With that said, though, the blogger is right. It is his blog. He can shut it down whenever he wants. He can decide to go in a completely different direction and start writing lemur-themed haiku posts. The same is true for this blog. If we decided to only write about the benefits of oscillating fans during the summer there is not much you could do about it. Or could you?

Your Blog
While the audience cannot completely control the website owner’s actions, the audience does have some power. They have a voice. As was mentioned above, their voices come in two primary forms: (1) commenting and (2) unsubscribing. Voicing displeasure on comments is a great way to provide feedback to the writer(s). In a blogging community (like a business blog should support), responding to feedback is vital to a blog’s health. If there is no response then that blog community moves on to step two: mass exodus. If large masses of people leave your blog then your revenue streams and/or marketing opportunities dry up. That is bad for business.

So, for me, the answer to my question of “whose blog is it?” is simple. The blog is both of theirs. That particular blogging community has part ownership with the final decision-making power lying in the hands of the writer himself.

And, if the blogger wants to go in a completely new direction. He will just have to understand that they might have to find a brand new audience.

Oh, the search engines. I think they are my best friend and my worst enemy at the same time. Writing posts that might ring true for people engaging in this blogging community and with people cruising along on the search engine highway comes with a slight risk. The wrong people will also find this blog.

I have two examples come to mind.

The Iconic Symbol
The first is with a blog post I did on Twitter a few months ago. I had a good conversation with some readers and got a few links coming to the website. Awesome… and then the junk came. Apparently, the icon was picked up on Google images… and a few bloggers liked the it enough to steal bandwidth hotlink the image. I assume a few of them did it by accident, but either way it was pretty annoying and required a bit of angling so they would not use my resources.

Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt Me
The second example brings us to today: our blog kind of got hacked yesterday. I believe it has to do with some of the recent blog post about web security. So far, I cannot tell that anything actually happened, but two “people” registered on the blog as subscribers. They/he/she did this despite my not having user registration access on the main part of the website. After a quick Google search I found that one of the email addresses is associated with a person who uses that newly acquired access to break into the website and do (presumably) bad things.

I guess I might have to try and increase the security on the blog. Between that and prayer, hopefully nothing bad will go down on the back-end of the website. Stay tuned!

A couple of weeks ago the Charlotte Observer reported that a South Carolina

advertising agency… won $1.8 million in damages after suing an author of a blog – known for its harsh and sometimes crass criticism of elected officials, business leaders and local media – for defamation.

Man wins $1.8 million in suit against blogger

According to the Observer, court documents state that the blogger called the head of the ad agency a

“failed lawyer” and “criticized one of the firm’s advertising campaigns.”

Man wins $1.8 million in suit against blogger

I know that you will never encounter a problem like this because you are providing information that is helpful and informational for your readers, but a little reminder never hurts.

Always be mindful about how your blog posts impact others. A negative-slanted post might

• damage your company’s or your own reputation
• detract from your blog’s overall message
• take a little extra cash out of your wallet

Here’s to happy and helpful business blogging!

Web marketing is very similar to how you accumulate wealth. When done properly, both activities require discipline and time in order to grow and be successful.

This aspect of web marketing is its biggest hurdle and yet its biggest value. Why? It means that everyone cannot just swoop in, make a half-hearted effort and then subsequently succeed.

This gives small businesses owners, like us, leverage. If you are willing to commit your time and effort to steadily growing your online presence, over the long-term, it will begin to provide the results you are seeking.

Your Very Own Compound Interest
When dealing with savings, you add some money to your account on a regular basis. The interest then goes to work on your constantly-updated balance and increases your overall savings. Over a period of time, you will begin to see the realization of the compound interest.

Three factors determine your success: you adding money, the interest working on your balance, and time allowing the interest to build upon itself.

Your web marketing is very similar. When dealing with blogging, your job is to write frequent posts. Write posts that have good content and that do something for your audience. At first, one or two people will read your blog. As these few readers find interesting information on your blog, they will tell a friend or two. This process will continue upon itself, creating “compound audienceship.”

Similar to above, the key factors here are your effort (i.e. writing posts), your engaged audience telling others about something they read on your website, and time allowing the growing audience to build upon itself.

What You Can Do To Help Yourself
When dealing with savings accounts, there is not much you can do to help accelerate the growth. Mainly, you just try to find the best interest rate that will allow your money to grow a little faster. Luckily, there are a few things that you can do to help yourself out with blogging. None of these are quick fixes, but they will help your cause.

• Continue writing… do not stop.
• Engage your audience. Try to reply to their comments as much as possible.
• Read other people’s blogs and comment on them. Get involved in the community around you.
• Stay focused on your audience and write material that is oriented towards them.

If you want to read more about blogging being a long-term investment, check out my article relating blogging to a marathon.

The 3D Bar Graph Meeting image above is courtesy of lumaxart on Flickr. You can also find their work at thegoldguys.blogspot.com or lumaxart.com.

Before continuing, I will give you fair warning: this story is not for the faint of heart. This story is full of anguish, tears, and loss… loss of data that is.

A couple of prominent web services have completely lost their data over the past few months and I mean everything!

Ma.gnolia
According to SitePoint’s podcast, Ma.gnolia, a social bookmarking site similar to Delicious lost their entire database. Every single person who kept their bookmarks on this website lost everything and will now have to rebuild their store of website bookmarks.

Journalspace
I also heard on SitePoint’s podcast that Journalspace, a blogging platform similar to WordPress(.com), lost all of their data. This means that every single member of Journalspace lost every single blog post. As any blog author knows, that is devastating!

Why & What You Can Do
Why did this happen? These websites did not back up their data properly. As a result, if the information was deleted on one (or two servers) then everything was erased. This is exactly what occurred in both of the aforementioned examples.

When it comes to your data (i.e. blog posts, personal photos, important documents, videos of the children) do not trust anything. Regularly back it up in multiple places.

Here is an example of how I back up this blog. I schedule automatic backups using an easy WordPress plugin called wp-db-backup. I save that back-up file to the computer in my office and then also back-up the entire drive to another location. With your data always err on the side of caution.

Do Not Be the Chalkboard
Essentially, if you do not back up your information, your data is no more than words on a chalkboard. All it takes is for someone (or something) to come by and wipe it clean and you have lost everything.

The chalkboard photo is courtesy of House Of Sims at Flickr.

The new social web is great! Individuals can communicate with masses of people in an unprecedented manner. You can easily broadcast your thoughts, conversations, and opinions on sites such as Twitter, Facebook or on your own blog. There is a problem, though, with not having many checks and balances before publishing your voice: your mistakes will be re-told by hundreds of people along with the accompanying evidence.

A Classic Example
I came across this blog article discussing a “conversation” on Twitter between a reporter and a marketing expert. I am not going to provide my opinion on who is right and who is wrong. The important lesson to take away from this conversation is that your words and actions can haunt you.

Be careful that you do not get into a tirade on Twitter. Beware of bashing someone on your blog. Watch out for saying something offensive on Facebook. You should always be strategic with your words, but on the Internet this is even more important. Choose your words carefully because you never know who is watching.

Quick Tips
Here are a few tips on how to lessen the chances of writing those words you will regret:
1. Count to 10… or 100… or 1,000. Regardless of the duration of time, take a break and step away from the computer. This is a classic rule to follow, but it does work.
2. Check your ego at the keyboard. Remember that the social web is all about relationships. As a result, you run the risk of getting your feelings hurt once in a while. That is a reality; accept it, deal with it, and be prepared.
3. If you need, take the conversation offline. If it is something that is really important to discuss, talk with the other person on the phone or in person.

Your Thoughts
What other techniques do you use to reduce the chances of having a major blowout online? Have you ever done this?

The photo is courtesy of Arturo J. Paniagua on Flickr.