Several months ago, there was an uproar over WordPress and their preferred hosting vendor. However the legal eagles appear to be circling around the use of the trademarked WordPress name in the vendor's advertising. WordPress turned off access to all sites hosted by this particular vendor. I won't go into the specifics, as it isn't pertinent to this article, other than to state AmeriWeb is unaffected by this legal turmoil and if you use WordPress on our servers you are safe at this time. We are continuing to monitor for the outcome and will protect our clients should the rules change.
As you may know, WordPress is a free script available for anyone to use at no cost, and it is estimated that over 40% of all web sites are running on WordPress. Last number I saw was approx 260 million WordPress sites are in operation today. A tempting target for hackers, as if you successfully gain access to one it is easy to replicate your efforts and access many.
You pay for your hosting and domain name, using the WordPress CMS is available free. AmeriWeb has an entire server dedicated to WordPress sites, we've streamlined it to run faster and cleaner, while keeping out hack attempts.
Many scripts are written to add features to the WordPress CMS. Because of the turmoil, some authors are no longer participating. One expert has predicted the demise of WordPress as the leading CMS. My own take is this may occur, but over many years and not immediately. If you are running a WordPress site with us, here are the services we include (and will continue to include in the future):
- We keep WordPress and its components up to date, making regular updates as they are released by the authors
- We keep templates up to date, making regular updates as they are released by the authors
- We keep plugins up to date, making regular updates as they are released by the authors
- We maintain a strong cache program
- We maintain a firewall and scanner to help keep out hackers and trojans
- We install an automated junk filter to screen out spam or harmful comments
- We maintain a SSL certificate and insert code so your entire site uses it by default, as an anti-hacking measure
- We monitor plugins and replace older ones with newer, better ones as they are introduced
- We run modern versions of PHP which helps with speed and security, among other benefits
Here are some things you can do yourself to keep your WordPress site secure:
- Remove all plugins that are not being used
- Disable all plugins that are not currently being used, that you may need in the future
- Remove any unused templates (we recommend keeping the template in use, plus one additional)
- Disable comments, unless this is useful to your site and business model
- Keep the number of admin accounts to a minimum
- If you allow visitors to sign up for an account, ensure they are automatically granted subscriber status only
Keeping WordPress sites up and running, and updated, is often a full time job. Its one that we work hard at. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.