Posts Tagged ‘Movable Type’
WordPress Version 2.0.3 Review
WordPress, the premier free open-source blogging utility, has gone through several upgrades in its life. Today it’s one of the most popular blogging tools on the Internet; it’s easy to use, powerful, and very versatile. It also has a very active base of skilled users who are eager to improve the product and to help out those who haven’t tried it before.
Though the Strayhorn 1. 5 version is the favorite for many, it is not as stable or as secure as the newest version 2. 0. 3. The best part of the new version is the security patch; the new “nonce” security key reduces the chances of a malicious hacker finding a way into your admin panel. Besides the security patch, though, several minor bugs have been squashed with this version. Though a major upgrade to 2. 1 is due out soon, the 2. 0. 3 is something you should definitely download and install if only because of the security fixes, which were actually backported from the major upgrade files.
In addition to the 2. 0. 3 install, you should be aware that some bugs have already been found, and that a plugin will need to be installed to repair those bugs. If you modify any of the files that this patch plugin fixes, you’ll need to either merge the changes with the new files or make those changes manually once again. You can find these issues by running a diff to locate changes; if the only changes you find are your own, then you’re fine, and otherwise you’ll need to merge them manually into the new files.
The short list of what WordPress 2. 0. 3 fixes includes:
•Small performance enhancements
•Movable Type / Typepad importer fix
•Enclosure (podcasting) fix
•The aforementioned security enhancements (nonces)
One mostly annoying bug shipped with 2. 0. 3 as well. It gives you an “Are You Sure?” dialog when you edit comments, and adds a backslash before each quotation mark in the post you’re editing. Make certain to download the patch.
What’s Up With The Security Problem?
The security problem seems minor, but the WordPress team is fixing it before it grows into something major. It’s a bug that takes advantage of the cookie you download when you sign into WordPress. The cookie in question prevents anyone unauthorized from accessing your admin panel. It’s tied to your user account, and verifies that you are the authorized administrator of the account you’re working on.
The bug that’s being fixed is one that takes advantage of a sociological trick. If someone created a link or a form pointing to your WordPress admin account, they might possibly be able to trick you into clicking the link. In the case of the one here, you delete a post. This sounds both minor and highly unlikely; but a small crack in the door can be exploited later by a dedicated hacker. And this is also the kind of bug that, a few years ago, allowed a hacker access to the Microsoft databases, from which he stole portions of the Longhorn and other codes. So yes, you do need to take it seriously.
WordPress had ensured you were safe from this kind of hacking by using a utility called HTTPREFERER. But this utility has some issues. For instance, with JavaScript in Internet Explorer, it can be spoofed. In addition, certain firewalls and proxies can strip the information it’s supposed to carry out, causing some people to be unable to use their WordPress admin accounts the way they’re supposed to be able to.
Now, instead of the HTTPREFERER, a nonce is used; this is a number used once. It’s like a password that changes every twelve hours, and is valid for twenty-four hours. The nonce is unique to the specific WordPress install being used, the WordPress user logged in, the action, the object of the action, and the 24-hour time of the action. When any of these is changed, the nonce is no longer valid. All plugin authors will have to ensure the nonce is added to their forms and other interactive capabilities that may be affected.
Upgrading from WordPress 2. 0. 2 to 2. 0. 3
As with any upgrade, the first thing you should do is back up everything: the files in your WordPress directory, the database plugin with any changes, and any data you have added should be backed up as well. In addition, it might be a good idea to do a second backup of your entire WordPress directory just in case something goes wrong with your install.
Now remove the wp-admin directory entirely. Also remove the wp-includes directory, except for any translation and language files or directories you may have added; add these files to the backup files you created earlier. Finally, remove all the files where WordPress is installed with the exception of the file http://wp-config. php.
Now you’re ready to start your install. Download and unpack the 2. 0. 3 version in a separate install directory. You want to make sure you can control files and directories you copy over. Now install the new wp-admin and wp-includes directories.
Install the rest of the files of the top directory, with the exception of the http://wp-config-sample. php file.
Now enter the admin panel. You should see the following message: “Your database is out of date. Please upgrade. ” Follow the link provided to update the database, and follow the directions there. Now remove the files wp-admin/upgrade. php and wp-admin/install. php. Download the plugin fix; add it and activate it. Replace your backup files where they need to be, and do the comparisons if you’ve modified any of your earlier files. This should take care of the whole thing.
For geeks, there is also an upgrade package that only includes the changed files. Look for it under Changes Diff (2. 0. 2 > 2. 0. 3). It consists of a zip file that is much quicker to install, but you should be certain you can handle it before using it.
Comparing Blog Hosting Sites
With the emergence of the Internet has come a new form of journalism and publishing: blogging. While the earlier writers must find places for publishing with a small readership, blogs that the authors to put their work out in the manner they see fit, and generate an audience of potentially millions. Short for “weblog” blogs have transformed business, politics and culture as they have become requirements for any candidate for public office, companies that market their products and celebrities and athletes who want to communicate with their fans. To assist these and other prospective bloggers set up their website, a number of companies offering software to easily create and maintain a blog. Comparison shopping can make the difference between a bland and somewhat exciting. At the beginning of the blog writers to have a working knowledge of web development to get their site up and running. In 1999 this changed with the introduction of Blogger. Offer a number of templates and is now owned by Google, Blogger is still one of the Web’s most popular hosts of people who want to self-publishing online. It is also easy to turn your blog page in a venture to make money that you can click a button and Google will host ads on your site, giving you a reduction of a few clicks generated. Perhaps the software’s biggest drawback is that unless you put up a simple little script has a distracting toolbars will be placed at the top of the page leads viewers away to other places Blogger. While big media is still a bit worried about blogs, using many of those who host their own, including MSNBC and Sky News, TypePad. Based on the powerful Movable Type technology TypePad blogs are often some of the nicest on the web. Paint By Numbers less than Blogger, TypePad is still easy to use but offers more space for experienced developers to stretch their legs. TypePad also probably among the best blog host platforms for several blogs author, a feature which recommends it over Blogger. Yet TypePad unavailable for free and you are bound to receive commercial e-mail from Six Apart (TypePad’s parent company) to register for the service. While many blogs intend to comment on the world market or in specific areas, in the same way traditional publications always, other bloggers are using their website as a sort of public diary, update their loved ones about what is happening in their lives. For this LiveJournal is the most popular platform. Available for free (now used it to require either an invite code, or payment) with some who are paid, LiveJournal (or LJ) and a social networking functions. Great for an amateur blogger who wants to let friends know what they are doing and how they feel, LJ is also used by more traditional, journalistic blog writers. A drawback with LJ is that its free package now host ads, although they had previously promised to keep the service “ad-free.” Blogging changes in writing and journalism as we have known it. Google’s Blogger, TypePad and LiveJournal are all different and all is well on its way. Whichever you choose, the power to quench your words can make and fun.
Profitng And Benefiting From WordPress Ella
“WordPress” developer team has successfully launched its latest version of WordPress, which is called “WordPress Ella”. Numerically, the version number is called version 2. 1 For the uninitiated appears to news like this as a regular message from the developers and often further. But from the eyes of a trained mind and skilled businessman, the news of “WordPress Ella” has many advantages that online entrepreneurs can immediately use and benefit. ”WordPress Ella” comes with the following improvements are a great resource for online entrepreneurs. 1. First on the list of improvements from WordPress Ella is an “auto-save” feature that allows you will never lose a post again. This is an invaluable tool especially during times when you have spent much time in front of the computer screen, brainstorming about what to write to promote your business. Imagine the horror and frustration, especially in cases where the battery on your laptop died, and you forgot to save. Or maybe it was a power outage or if you accidentally closed the window without saving your work. ”WordPress Ella” autosave feature is a real time saver and is a abosolute must for any online business. 2nd Next in line for WordPress Ella “is the” Import “and” Export “functions. Let’s talk about the import-only feature. The latest edition of “WordPress Ella” has an import function that allows you to import your blog created by other popular blog platforms such as “Movable Type”, “Typepad”, “Livejournal”, “Blogger,” and so on, to WordPress itself. In this way, you do not lose important data such as your blog entries and comments. This flexibility is another reason WordPress itself is so successful and continues to gain a huge following and user base. Why would anyone want to move her blog from another platform to WordPress? Well, one reason is because most of these other blogging platforms, the user has to pay a monthly fee. WordPress, as almost everyone knows, is free, and you can easily install with a few clicks using Fantastico from your hosting account cPanel. Another reason to move or transfer the whole blog to WordPress could be due to a restriction on certain blogging platforms. Blogger, not for example do not support the use of categories, which are crucial when it comes to optimizing your blog to rank highly for specific keywords related to the business. Now we will discuss the “Export” function. ”Export” as the name suggests, will export all WordPress posts and comments in a file (known as XML). This file can then be imported into other WordPress blogs. It’s like a cross transfer of data between similar or related “WordPress blogs.” This is useful when starting a new blog and might need to fill the blog with useful content rather than simply show news feed. For example, if you have a blog on muscle building and you started a new blog on weight loss, you can import content (which is the posts and comments) from the muscle weight loss blog to blog. That way you can drive traffic to your new weight loss blog, you can at least give the reader some useful content while you build up content on weight loss. Of course there is a connection between these two areas. After all, if you want to build muscles, of course, you need to burn off excess fat and turn them into muscle! 3rd Another improvement of “WordPress Ella” is the new search engine privacy. What this means is that you can specify whether you want your blog to be indexed or ping the search engines, especially Google, Yahoo and MSN, which are the three most popular search engines on the web. Most experienced marketers know the power of blogs pinging. Everytime when a post is published, the WordPress ping or notify specific blog directories on the updates to your blog, and get them to index or visit your blog, brining you to additional and much needed targeted traffic. As crazy as it sounds, given that most workers would like to have a place listed in search engines, there are also times when you may want to hide or disguise your blog from the radar screen of search engines. This is particularly true in cases where it is intended only for paid customers. For example, you can give any sensitive information intended for paid customers and you do not want someone doing a search on search engines to stumble upon your blog and get access to information. 4th Another powerful upgrade that “WordPress Ella” when it is able to specify a static page as the first page of your site or blog. Most savvy marketers employ the use of a mini site or a page just sales letter in the marketing of their products or services. Normally, one page sites will also include an opt-in box, where visitors and readers are enticed to leave their email address in exchange for a free gift, software, e-courses, etc. In doing so, they will normally be enrolled in an autoresponder course that will automatically make a follow up to the same directory that either results in a sale or no sale. With a blog, but the main page or front page will always display the last chronological posts. You can create pages for a blog, but earlier it was not easy for a layman to do so. With “WordPress Ella”, all you need to do if you want a static front page is to choose that option in the WordPress control panel. It does not get simpler than that. These are just some of the improvements that you can immediately benefit from the “WordPress Ella”. This article assumes you already have some basic knowledge about the marketing power of blogs in terms its syndication power, targeted traffic and search engine optimization capabilities for keywords.