There are plenty of options for building free websites and company pages, while avoiding registering a domain. For example, I have a free portfolio at amandacamino.carbonmade.com and a blog at amandacamino.blogspot.com. In both cases my name is used as a subdomain on someone [...]]]>

Why Having Your Own Domain is Beneficial.

There are plenty of options for building free websites and company pages, while avoiding registering a domain. For example, I have a free portfolio at amandacamino.carbonmade.com and a blog at amandacamino.blogspot.com. In both cases my name is used as a subdomain on someone else’s website. WordPress.com works the same way, while Facebook pages use a username after the URL like this: facebook.com/ZeroGWS.

Aside from being free and potentially great for social marketing, these sites can be distracting to the reader and they are extremely limited. Having your own Domain Name would remove that idea of a profile page, eliminate the mile long URL, and would better illustrate your brand’s personality with less limitations.

Selecting a Name.

Selecting your Domain Name can be tricky or extremely easy. Whether your Domain is for a company, organization, personal, social or just plain fun, here are some tips to follow when deciding on a name:

• Keep it Short and Clear.
  If you’re a math nerd and love Pi, 3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592.eu/ might not seem like a big deal to you, but to the rest of the world it might be a bit much. Speaking of Pi….
• Avoid using numbers unless they are truly significant.
  A good use of a number is 365Project.org. Other possible examples could contain 101 or 123 when related to an educational site, 24-7, 365,  or a radio station and street address may work well. Whatever the number is, just be certain it makes sense and is not too complicated.
• Easy to Spell.
  Even fans of Mary Poppins might error when typing supercalafragalisticexpialidoshus.com, so stear clear if you can!
• Make it Relevant.
  This doesn’t mean you have to clearly spell out the purpose of your site. Rotten Tomatoes isn’t obvious to the unfamiliar, but the name makes perfect sense for booing or wooing movies.
• Back-to-back wording can be embarrassing!
  Remember that the website name is one string of letters and numbers. So have a friend look for potential embarrassments like speedofart.com aka Speed of Art, not Speedo Fart. For more examples of what NOT to name your site, check out this article on citymaxblog: Top 50 Crappiest Domain Names Purchased

Other points to Consider:

• If your Domain contains the word “to”, consider also registering a ‘2‘ version of the Domain.
  Example: HappyBDayToYou.com & HappyBDay2You.com
• The Apostrophe-S.
  Let’s say I just started the company Amanda’s Tech Support and registered the domain amandastechsupport.com. Ideally, people would remember to add the ‘s‘, but often times it is forgotten. The apostrophe-s tends to be awkward and can easily be missed since there is no apostrophe used in the Domain. The solution? It’s not essential, but I would also register amandatechsupport.com to avoid the potential problem.
• Don’t forget the power of abbreviation!
  When you’ve got a name in mind, sometimes it’s just too hard to keep it short.
  I chose my Domain based on my company’s name. “Web Solutions” gives a clear direction in what you would expect from the site, but zerogravitywebsolutions.com can be a mouthful. That’s why I also registered zerogws.com. Type zerogws.com into your browser and it will actually open the longer site address. This is where Domain Forwarding comes in handy. If you are set on a Domain that can be a mouthful or difficult to remember, you can use this forwarding trick to simplify things. Additionally, I have branded ZeroGWS as my username on websites like Facebook. This creates an identity within the company that helps make the shorter domain memorable.

Additionally, if you get stuck on a name or lack of one, there are two great places to get ideas. First, do a Synonym search with your key words. Second, most Domain Registrars have a “related” or “variations” section when searching for available names. Keep in mind, the Registrar’s suggestions may go against my rules above, but they might spark some ideas.

 
Just yesterday I posted in a long neglected WordPress site of mine, Braintraffic.net. The WordPress version was still in the 2.0 realm and several plugins and my theme were outdated. I upgraded everything, submitted my post promising more updates in 2012, and then I went [...]]]>

Why your passwords should be updated.

 
Just yesterday I posted in a long neglected WordPress site of mine, Braintraffic.net. The WordPress version was still in the 2.0 realm and several plugins and my theme were outdated. I upgraded everything, submitted my post promising more updates in 2012, and then I went on my way. In the process I made one fatal mistake. I didn’t update my really really old password.

Before, having a password with a minimum of 1 upper case letter, 1 lower case letter, and a number was “Strong” enough to be secure. Not to mention the fact that it was also at the minimum length.

Well, it got hacked.

Today I opened the site to check something with my rss feed and was suddenly bombarded with hip hop music. Now I have nothing against hip hop, I just didn’t match the site’s atmosphere. My footer had been replaced with this…

First things first. DO NOT CLICK ANYTHING if ever you come across anything even remotely like this. Especially, do not click on sites when they say “Hacked by” or contain a link called “T-Rojan”.

Most likely your password has been changed. Below is an alternative method to changing it, rather than using the “forgot password” link on your login page. If you do not have access to your Web Host Control Panel and phpMyAdmin, you should contact your Web Host Provider.
 

Changing Your Password

1. Log into your Web Host Control Panel. Your provider should have guides to get you there, but if they’re lame just shoot me an email with your Host’s name and I’ll be happy to help walk you through it: amanda@zerogws.com
    
2. Now lets find the phpMyAdmin tool (usually located in a Databases section).
    
3. Login and notice in the Left Column there is a list of Databases. Select the one associated with your WordPress installation.
    
4. The Left Column will now list the Tables in your Database. Select the wp_users table.
    
5. The main content area will list all the rows (or instances) of users. Locate the user you wish to change and press edit.
    
   
    
6. Under user_pass, the Function will be blank. Change it to MD5. Then change your password value to something more complex. (AVOID Simple passwords like Amanda123. Mix it up!. Also remember, WP uses symbols too. So add $%&!*)
   For passwords to avoid, check out this helpful article:  http://www.ic3.gov/media/2011/111229.aspx
    
7. Once you’ve entered your new and improved password, press go at the bottom left of the user information list.
    
   
    
8. Now you can log back into your WordPress site and figure out what changes were made.

Additionally, you may want to update your FTP and Database passwords for better security.

Luckily for me, all they did was add a new footer.php file to my child theme. I used the free tool FileZilla to access my site’s FTP account and deleted the file immediately.  (What I Should Have Done: was save a copy of the file and report it, but I was too trigger happy. Reporting these hackers benefits us all.) Now everything’s back to normal. Phew!
 

Remember
 
Interchange your numbers with a variety of upper and lower case letters.
 
If possible, use symbols like $&*!%.
 
Don’t use short passwords.
 
Avoid using words like love, god, superman, password, 111111, 123456, abc123.

Security Beyond an Awesome Password?

• Many WordPress developers have created Security plugins to help prevent these type of attacks, as well as spam. Checkout the reviews and support forums for these add-ons to see what others say before installing them.
• Keep plugins and especially WordPress up to date. The latest WP update (3.3.1) was to fix several security issues found in the 3.3.0 release. WP 3.3.0 introduced us to many awesome new features, but stuff happens and updates exist for a reason.
• Check with your Web Hosting Provider for more security tools on the server’s end.
• Make use of the tools available to you and remember that sometimes investing in a little security and stronger passwords may save you from future headaches.