Data-Based Insights in WordPress Security
Sucuri, a leader in CMS platform security, recently released a report discusing patterns in security issues based on 11,000 websites it worked with in the first quarter of 2016. One encouraging finding was that most vulnerabilities occur due to plugins, not WordPress itself. Of all the WordPress websites they looked at, fully a quarter of security issues during this period were due to three specific plugins: RevSlider, GravityForms, and TimThumb (a script) — even though patches solving the security issues have been available for all three since late 2014. If you or your firm works on WordPress web development, it’s probably worth reminding your clients to update these plugins. See additional highlights from Sucuri’s report here.
WordPress debuts SEO control panel
If you keep up with the official WordPress blog or just came across it poking around on your website recently, you may have noticed that WordPress introduced a new settings panel geared to SEO a few days ago. So far the offerings seem sparse. The new panel allows for changing the website’s meta description — but only for the front page — and a dedicated link to the XML site map. Both of these things are good, but just about any other existing SEO plugin has richer features if you’re really serious about improving your website’s SEO.
WordCamp Europe fast approaching — livestream online!
WordCamps happen all over the world, almost all the time, but this one is something special. Hosted in Vienna on June 24-26, participants and speakers come from as far as the US, Australia and Japan to share their expertise and experience in the world of WordPress, including some of the best developers, agencies, and designers working in the field.
Some of the speakers I’m most interested in hearing from:
- Seven Times Faster: A study in front-end optimization with Peter Wilson, with a focus on how web designers and developers can work together to improve website loading times. Website optimization is a definite priority for us and our clients. Since we work primarily on development, leaving design up to our clients, we are always looking to understand better ways to improve this partnership.
- Beyond SEO: copywriting for professionals with Joost De Valk and Marieke van de Riek. De Valk is the CEO of SEO specialist Yoast, which is pretty much a household name in the WordPress world. SEO is less about easy tricks and more about quality content these days, and I can’t imagine anyone better positioned to talk about that than these two.
- Managing a Remote WordPress team with Mario Peshev. Obviously, this is a topic we think about and work with quite a lot, since we offer outsourcing of WordPress development so I’m curious to hear another firm’s perspective on it.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg — the full schedule includes dozens more interesting speakers. Even if you can’t make it to Vienna this year, you can livestream the conference for free — I’ve just signed up for my free livestreaming ticket. Get one for yourself now.
