I just released my new Anti-Malware plugin for WordPress. It is still in BETA but I think it will be very helpful in removing malicious scripts and patching security vulnerabilities.
An example scan that found some threats
Please leave feedback and donate whenever possible.
This is a simple widget that makes it easy to monetize your site with Google adSense.
After a lot of reports of an intermittent issue with the Related Posts sometimes not showing up I have finally found and fixed the bug that caused it. Please download this new version 1.2.03.04 which also includes Post dates and Excerpt support. These patches and new features seem to have spawned a new wave of interest as I now have over 10,000 downloads!
Snapshot of my download stats to-date.
The odd thing about these stats is that it seems to show over 600 downloads since I uploaded version 1.2.03, which is about 6% of all downloads, yet the latest versions represented in the pie chat above are 1.2.02 and below. Anyone have any idea when and how these stats are compiled? Please comment.
If you thought SOPA and PROTECT IP were bad, then check this out.
[youtube]N8Xg_C2YmG0[/youtube]
What is this world coming to?
I haven’t posted anything this whole month because one of my servers got hacked and I’ve spent the last three week working on a new plugin to scan and remove malicious software from my server.
It wasn’t enough for me to just remove the hack. I had to make sure it wouldn’t come back and because it was such a widespread exploit I thought it would be good to release a plugin for other website admins to check their site for themselves.
I looks like my infestation of nasty scripts came in through a vulnerability in an older version of timthumb.php. Apparently any version older that 2.0 can be used to place a file on the server. If that file is a back-door of some kind then the person who put it there could have full access to your server.
I’m still testing and working out the kinks in my security scanner but it should be ready soon…
In October of 2011 Google announced that signed-in users will, by default, be routed to the SSL version of Google Search (https://www.google.com).
What is the impact of this change for webmasters?
A web site accessed through organic search results on http://www.google.com (non-SSL) can see both that the user came from google.com and their search query.
However, for organic search results on Google’s SSL search, a web site will only know that the user came from google.com.
This is bad news for anyone who wants to know what keywords were used to find their site on Goggle.
Over two thirds (69%) of my Google Analytics Keywords now show up as “(not provided)”. This completely cripples my ability to tell how people are finding my site.
Here is a good video I found on SEOmoz that goes into more details and explains how it works:
Download my latest version (1.2.01.18) and you can customize the placement of the Menu Item. Plus, I’ve made the Tag and Category headings in the Tree View widget link to that Tag or Category. With over 4,000 downloads I’m finally starting to get some good feedback too. Keep it coming!
PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.
Some thoughts by Jane Wells, UX lead for WordPress:
Go to Stop American Censorship for more information and a bunch of ways you can take action quickly, easily, and painlessly. The Senate votes in less than two weeks, and we need to help at least 41 more senators see reason before then. Please. Make your voice heard.
I added “Tree View” to the Widget options with the ability to show the Widget on pages with multiple Posts. This new option displays links to related post under a subheading for the Tag or Category that it is related by. It also features a multi layered loop that dynamically removed duplicate Post Links and auto balances the remaining link so the Widget shows a relatively equal amount of Post Links under each Tag or Category. So, download version 1.2.01.04 and use the Widget on pages that have multiple Posts.
I embeded these YouTube Videos using Artiss YouTube Embed By David Artiss. It was a great Plugin for WordPress YouTube videos but it was taken over by another developer and it’s not as well liked any more. Besides which, with the new version of WordPress you can now embed YouTube videos automatically just by pasting the shortlink into a Page or Post.