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Web Dev + WordPress + Security
44 posts related to: Notes on Switching Servers

How to Modify GET and POST Requests with WordPress

[ POST Requests ]

I’ve written before about protecting against malicious POST requests using Apache/.htaccess. In this tutorial, we’ll look at how to modify GET and POST requests using PHP and some core WordPress functionality (with no .htaccess required). Normally you would want to manipulate URI requests at the server level, but that’s not always possible (like on shared hosting). So in those cases where you want to modify GET, POST, or other types of requests on a WordPress site, check out the following […] Continue reading »

Video Course: WordPress on Shared Hosting

[ WordPress: Shared Hosting ]

After months of hard work, my latest LinkedIn/Lynda.com video course has launched! The course walks through the entire process of getting WordPress installed and running on shared hosting. If you’re new to WordPress or the Internet in general, and want to start your own WordPress-powered website, this course will help you do it as quickly and inexpensively as possible. Continue reading »

WordPress Plugin: Dashboard Widgets Suite

[ Dashboard Widgets Suite ]

1 Plugin. 9 Widgets. Awesome Dashboard. Over the years, I’ve assembled a collection of Dashboard widgets that I use frequently on various sites. I find the WordPress Dashboard to be a convenient location for posting notes, viewing debug and error logs, and displaying social media icons, RSS feeds, and other useful information. I find these widgets essential, but I was spending way too much time installing and managing them on all of my sites. Continue reading »

The Art of Troubleshooting WordPress

The Art of Troubleshooting

If you are new to WordPress, or even if you have some experience, it may seem impossible to figure out why something isn’t working as expected. It would be nice if we could just wave a magic wand and have everything “fixed” automatically, but reality requires a bit more effort to diagnose and resolve issues. It would be impossible to describe troubleshooting steps for every possible issue, so this post stays focused on troubleshooting things in general. The goal here […] Continue reading »

s2member notes

I use s2member (free version) and s2member Pro on a few of my sites. Have been for several years now. Over the course of time, I have amassed a healthy collection of notes, code snippets and techniques for customizing default functionality, adding features, and so forth. Gonna post the collection online for the benefit of any others who may be seeking for similar modifications and/or related information. Continue reading »

Digging Into WordPress 24-Hour Sale

Want to get Digging Into WordPress for almost half off the regular price? AppSumo is running an exclusive 24-hour sale for the PDF version of DigWP. Recently updated for WordPress 3.1, the book has never been better, providing the tips, tricks, and techniques you need to take WordPress to the next level. Head on over to AppSumo to take advantage of this incredible deal! Continue reading »

Digging Into WordPress 3.1 Update

Digging Into WordPress is now updated for WordPress 3.1. This is the book’s 8th major update, with new material for WordPress 3.1 and extensive revisions throughout. Without a doubt, Digging Into WordPress is more focused and current than ever before. Continue reading »

Digging Into WordPress

[ Screenshot: DigWP.com ]

Our recent quest to find a publisher has finally paid off. After spending a few weeks checking out different publishers and myriad publishing options, Chris Coyier and I have decided to go the DIY-route and publish the book ourselves as a PDF. The book is titled “Digging into WordPress,” and is due out late Summer or early Fall of this year. It’s going to be packed full of juicy WordPress goodness and I hope that you check it out when […] Continue reading »

Farewell to Alex King’s Popularity Contest

I finally broke down and uninstalled Alex King’s once-great “Popularity Contest” plugin for WordPress. The plugin had been active here at Perishable Press for over two years, and had provided fairly consistent and apparently accurate statistics while in service. Unfortunately, there were serious errors involved with the plugin way back during the WordPress-2.3 upgrade that were never addressed by the plugin author. There was an interim version of the plugin that had patched the error until an official update was […] Continue reading »

Feedburner Alternative: Homegrown Feed Statistics for Your Blog

If, for whatever reason, you don’t want to use Feedburner to track your feed statistics, this article describes a relatively simple, “roll-your-own” alternative. Instead of redirecting your feed traffic through Feedburner, keep your original feed URLs and place the following code into a file named “feed_stats.php” (or whatever) and upload to your server: Continue reading »

Miscellaneous Code Snippets for WordPress, Windows, and Firefox

[ Miscellaneous Color Slices ]

One of the original purposes of Perishable Press involved serving as a “virtual dumpster” for all of my miscellaneous code snippets. Over time, I continued elaborating to greater degrees on the various code recipes that I was posting, until eventually those brief snippet posts evolved into complete, richly detailed articles (at least from my point of view). Now that I enjoy the luxury of writing for an incredible audience, I try to avoid posting anything that doesn’t include an accompanying […] Continue reading »

Valid, SEO-Friendly Post Translation Links

Ever wanted to provide automatic language translations of your web pages without installing another plugin? Here is a valid, SEO-friendly technique that takes advantage of Google’s free translation service. All you need is a PHP-enabled server and you’re good to go. Just copy and paste the following code into the desired location in your page template and enjoy the results. Once in place, this code will produce translation links for eight common languages for every page on your site. Grab, […] Continue reading »

WordPress Tip: Careful with that Autosave, Eugene

[ Screenshot: WordPress Autosave Message (Saved at 2:34:02.) ]

After upgrading WordPress from version 2.0.5 to 2.3.3, I did some experimenting with the “post autosave” feature. The autosave feature uses some crafty ajax to automagically save your post every 2 minutes (120 seconds by default). Below the post-editing field, you will notice a line of text that displays the time of the most recent autosave, similar to the following: Continue reading »

What is My WordPress Feed URL?

[ WordPress RSS Feed ]

For future reference, this article covers each of the many ways to access your WordPress-generated feeds1. Several different URL formats are available for the various types of WordPress feeds — posts, comments, and categories — for both permalink and default URL structures. For each example, replace “http://example.com/” with the URL of your blog. Note: even though your blog’s main feed is accessible through many different URLs, there are clear benefits to using a single, consistent feed URL throughout your site. […] Continue reading »

Improve Site Performance by Increasing PHP Memory for WordPress

During the recent ASO server debacle, I raced frantically to restore functionality to Perishable Press. Along the way, one of the many tricks that I tried while trying to fix the dreaded “white screen of death” syndrome involved increasing the amount of PHP memory available to WordPress. This fix worked for me, but may not prove effective on every installation of WordPress. If you are unsure as to whether or not you need to increase your PHP memory, consult with […] Continue reading »

Quickly Disable or Enable All WordPress Plugins via the Database

[ The Flash ]

Recently, while dealing with the dreaded white screen of death, I found myself unable to login to the WordPress Admin area to manually disable all of the plugins used here at Perishable Press. In the past, I have dealt with this situation by simply deleting all plugin files from the server, however this time, time was of the essence — I had only a few minutes with which to troubleshoot, diagnose, and ultimately resolve the deadly white-screen syndrome. Fortunately, after […] Continue reading »

Welcome
Perishable Press is operated by Jeff Starr, a professional web developer and book author with two decades of experience. Here you will find posts about web development, WordPress, security, and more »
.htaccess made easy: Improve site performance and security.
Thoughts
I live right next door to the absolute loudest car in town. And the owner loves to drive it.
8G Firewall now out of beta testing, ready for use on production sites.
It's all about that ad revenue baby.
Note to self: encrypting 500 GB of data on my iMac takes around 8 hours.
Getting back into things after a bit of a break. Currently 7° F outside. Chillz.
2024 is going to make 2020 look like a vacation. Prepare accordingly.
First snow of the year :)
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