Tag Archives: WordPress

WordPress Users on Dreamhost: Upgrade PHP

For the past few days, I’ve noticed that my sites were running EXTREMELY slow. I hadn’t made any changes so I checked the server’s side. I noticed that all my domains were still running on PHP 5.2.x, which was not recommended. Not sure if this was the reason why my sites were slowed to a crawl, but everything seems to be running ok now.

Here’s how I “upgraded”:

  1. Go to Manage Domains in the control panel: https://panel.dreamhost.com/index.cgi?tree=domain.manage&
  2. Click on Edit for that domain.
  3. Under PHP mode, pick PHP 5.3 or PHP 5.4, both work with WordPress.
  4. Then hit ‘Change settings’
  5. Wait ten minutes and everything should be golden.

How to change your WordPress admin username

So after my post on why you should change your WordPress admin username, my friend Brad asked me how to go about changing it. So here’s a brief run down.

  1. Log in to your WordPress admin area.
  2. In the Users menu, click on “add new”.
  3. Fill in the info for the new user account. 
    • You’ll need to use a different email address than what you used for the “admin” username.
    • Make sure you change the role to “Administrator”.
    • Choose a new user name that is different than the name you publicly display on your blog. For example, I wouldn’t use “jen” as my username – because that would be too easy for someone to guess.
    • Choose a strong password.
  4. Click on the ”Add User” button.
  5. Log out of WordPress.
  6. Log in to your WordPress again, using your new username.
  7. Click on “Users” in the “Users” menu.
  8. Move your mouse over the “admin” row. You’ll see links for “Edit” and “Delete”. Click on “Delete”.
  9. Select “Attribute all posts to” and then select your new username from the drop-down list. Make sure you select this option — so all your posts don’t get deleted!
  10. Click on the ”Confirm Deletion” button.

Now that you’ve changed your admin username — all your blog posts that were created using the “admin” username will be reassigned to your new username.

WordPress Security: change admin username

In 2012, my site was exploited, along with many other wordpress sites using outdated versions of TimThumb, a popular PHP-based image resizer. Apparently, their main goal was to use our sites as launch pads to go after major U.S. banks. After clearing out all the junk, I tried using a WordPress plugin called BulletProof Security, and everything seemed to work well.

Recently, I switched over to Better WP Security. I checked the logs and looky what I found:

Better WP Security View Logs ‹ Somegirlwitha.com — WordPress WordPress Security: change admin username

Several reports say that there was a huge botnet attack on WordPress sites To steal admin passwords and gain server access. Looks like it was a brute-force dictionary-based attack that aim to find the password for the ‘admin’ account that every WordPress site sets up by default. Good thing one of the first things I do on any WordPress installation is change the “admin” username.

Protect your WordPress installation:

  1. If your username is currently set as “admin”, change it to something custom.
  2. Change/strengthen your password.
  3. Make sure you’ve deactivated and deleted all old or unused themes and plugins.
  4. Install a plugin to limit login requests.  I just installed the appropriately titled Limit Login Attempts WordPress plugin.

Note to self: stay vigilant with WordPress security.
Next, read “how to change your WordPress admin username.”

WordPress 3.5 issue

Since upgrading to WordPress 3.5, I had trouble on one of my sites where I couldn’t add links, media or edit in text mode. I found a fix by adding this in the wp-config.php (above ‘stop editing here’):

define('CONCATENATE_SCRIPTS', false);

From the WordPress Codex: http://codex.wordpress.org/Editing_wp-config.php#Disable_Javascript_Concatenation

Speed Up WordPress by Compressing Output

I’ve used dreamhost to host this website for years, but for some reason, wordpress runs extremely slowly on it. But I found some code to compress your php so I’m giving it a try. Does my page load a faster? Seems so to me, but maybe it’s just psychological.

First, place the following code in a file and call it “test.php” and then upload it to the root of your blog directory:

<?php phpinfo(); ?>

Make sure that “zlib” is enabled by your hosting provider.

Second, place the following code in your header (above the DOCTYPE):

<?php
ini_set('zlib.output_compression', 'On');
ini_set('zlib.output_compression_level', '1');
?>

If all’s well, make sure to delete that test.php file.

High five to wprecipes.com.

Tree Style Tabs

treestylefftab Tree Style TabsI’ve been using a new Firefox extension called Tree Style Tabs. It’s great for widescreens because it takes all your tabs from the top of your browser and places it along the right or left side, saving a lot of vertical screen space. It took a little time to get used to.  Once in a while, I still find myself moving the mouse to the top to switch tabs, but it’s definitely growing on me!

7 years of teaching…

…and I still love my kids.

fellowship news 7 years of teaching...

My Glass Booth

I almost titled this post: Barack, the baby killer?

But before I get into that, check me out:

glassbooth your results 1224188197807 My Glass Booth

There’s a little quiz at glassbooth.org that helps you find out which presidential candidate most closely aligns with you.

I don’t usually post about politics much here, probably because I’m not much of a political person.  But for the presidential election, I can’t decide which is the lesser of evils. Both candidates are far from perfect.  As you can see, I’m pretty evenly divided. Of course, I can’t say anything about the validity of that quiz, but it’s fun to try out all the neat election tools out there.

Practically every one around me is probably going to vote for Barack because I live on the left coast. My friend and I were watching the debate last night and we were discussing the topic of abortion as it came up between the 2 candidates.  I know many of my friends are fervent Obama supporters, but I don’t know if I can hang with his stance on abortion.  Of course, I don’t know if I’d go for John McCain either since my current situation would allow me to benefit more from Obama’s tax plans. Might as well call me Jen the Plumber. Check out Obama’s Tax Cut Calculator.

Anyhoo, I’ve learned that in every single vote related to the issue of abortion, Obama’s favored abortion, its legality and even the killing of children who survive abortion. (As an Illinois state senator, four times he voted “no” on the Illinois Born-Alive Infant Defined Act, which would protect babies born alive after failed abortions.)

In a 2007 speech he made for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Obama said,

We know that a woman’s right to make a decision about how many
children she wants to have and when— without government interference—is
one of the most fundamental freedoms we have in this country. . . . I have worked on this issue for decades now. I put Roe at the center of my lesson plan on reproductive freedom when I taught constitutional law. . . So, you know where I stand. . . The first thing I’d do as president is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That’s the first thing that I’d do.

So before fixing the economy, helping the poor, and protecting the environment, he’s going to make sure that abortion stays legal. He wants to allow 16 year olds to have abortions without parental consent, where these same 16 year olds can’t even be given aspirin without permission?

During the debate, my friend, who is in her 2nd year of med school, was talking about how there may be legislation requiring doctors to perform abortions. If they decline, they may lose their licensing. Wouldn’t it make a little more sense to allow doctors to refer their patients to someone else if they themselves do not agree with this procedure? What is this world coming to?

Oh, and Obama supports late-term abortions too. Infanticide or not?

“Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 18:21)

Too complex. Too many things to think about. All I know is that I would never want to run for president.

Digi-life Digest for 2008-10-14

Yesterday

blog Digi life Digest for 2008 10 14 6:59am Published a blog post.
blog Digi life Digest for 2008 10 14 5:19pm Published a blog post.
twitpic Digi life Digest for 2008 10 14 5:20pm Posted a photo on TwitPic.
g83p thumb Digi life Digest for 2008 10 14
twitter Digi life Digest for 2008 10 14 5:23pm Posted a tweet on Twitter.
http://twitpic.com/g83p – Colorful hydrants
flickr Digi life Digest for 2008 10 14 6:19pm Posted a photo on Flickr.
2942259750 a5ece91295 s Digi life Digest for 2008 10 14

Pink for October

somegirlwithacom pink Pink for OctoberI’ve gone Pink for October, in honor of breast cancer awareness month. Too bright? Let me know and I can tone it down a little.

New Facebook Homepage

Just a new hompage for facebook today when I logged out.

fb new New Facebook Homepage

I didn’t notice anything else that was new. So what’s the verdict? Who like the old fb and who likes the new?

Garbage Pail Kids

gpk 8a adambomb Garbage Pail KidsAnyone remember the Garbage Pail Kids? They were designed to parody the Cabbage Patch Kids.  My sibs and I used to collect GPK cards for some reason. Not sure why. Maybe it was because I never could afford a Cabbage Patch doll. Anyhoo, found some images by Luis Diaz, one of the original GPK artists. Good times….good times.

Added Lifestream Page

somegirlwithacom web lifestream 1221713967636 300x300 Added Lifestream Page

Don’t know why anyone else would be interested in this, but I like having this documentation of my actions all across the web in one place. It’s like the newsfeed in Facebook, but it’s my very own web lifestream page. I used David Cramer’s lifestream plugin for wordpress. You can download it here.

There’s also an entire wordpress theme designed around this whole lifestream thing called Agregado.

If you want to connect with me using some of these tools, get your hands dirty.

Chalkboard Summary

Here’s a chalkboard summary of my summer in China:

chalkboard Chalkboard Summary

I don’t like to be friendly.
I don’t like people.
I don’t like friendly people.
I don’t like sharing food.
I don’t like hugs in hot weather.

Thanks a lot for not letting me be comfortable, FRIENDS.

Picasa 3 beta (windows only)

Again, Google continues to carry out its mission: to try to take over the world.

I’ve just downloaded the Picasa 3 beta. You can now make movies, take screenshots and webcam shots, add watermarks and print captions. It also comes with a new photo viewer that looks like this:

fullscreen capture 942008 10201 pm Picasa 3 beta (windows only)

Hey, the easter egg still works! Anyone else trying out the beta?

Google Chrome Beta Download (Windows Only)

chrome 205 noshadow Google Chrome Beta Download (Windows Only)

Edit: Sept. 3, 2008
me: i miss my adblocker
joey: it has adblock
joey: doesn’t it
joey: o wait it doesn’t
joey: lol it doesnt’ block google ads

oh, and type about:internets into the address bar to get a fun little animation.

If you haven’t heard the news, Google released its own browser today. Google Chrome – Download. Anyone try it out yet? You can check out the comic book or more features in video form.

Olympics Photos

Edited: Friday, August 22

When I got back, everyone kept asking why I didn’t stay for the Olympics. My answer was “it’s better watching it on TV.” But now that I’ve seen these pictures, I guess being at the opening ceremonies wouldn’t have been too bad.

image004 Olympics Photos

image034 Olympics Photos

image006 Olympics Photos

image008 Olympics Photos

image033 Olympics Photos

image022 Olympics Photos

More here or check out some weird Olympics photos.

Adibos and Blood Nation

Anyone want a bag?

dscn0221 Adibos and Blood Nation

I guess the English translation is secondary here, as evidenced by it’s bottom layer placement:

dscn0220 Adibos and Blood Nation

Olympic Countdown Timer

olympiccountdown Olympic Countdown Timer

Beijing, China

I don’t think I posted a picture of this from 2006, but here it is with 50 days to go. We were on an outing at Tiananmen Square with the kids this past Thursday. It felt like an oven in the middle of the square.