To often I see themes that have the template css and javascripts as HTML includes in the header file. In fact, even twentyeleven does it this way (not that I like a single thing about twentyeleven, but it’s what a lot of people use as a starting point).

Not only is this bad practice as WordPress has hooks that are there to be used, but these hooks work well, and there’s no reason not to use them. In fact, by using these, we can safely minify code, and avoid nasty conflicts (and we all know how annoying they can be!)

Ok, here is the code that you need:

functions.php – stylesheet hook

This is all you need to do, the function can be named to whatever you want, but this name needs to be reflected in the add_action call

UPDATE: I’ve now included a full set of media query style sheets too, so all you have to do is create the empty files and style away. 

FUNCTIONS.PHP – JAVASCRIPT HOOK

This very similar to the scripts, you’ll notice the subtle change to the enqueue function.

So… go forth, and include your scripts and styles the correct way! Banish old habits, and embrace this wonderful functionality!

The post How to include stylesheets and javascript files in wordpress, the correct way! (now including Media Queries) appeared first on PushON Ltd.

Although WordPress blogs often already appear on Facebook, the simplicity and effortlessness of the new upload link is expected to further encourage integration of two of the world’s most powerful communications platforms.

Whilst still operating in their WordPress account, users of the content management and publishing platform will also be able to use the Facebook link function to provide comments or tag their friends.

An additional new facility, employing Facebook algorithms, also generates for each reader a tailored list of recommended further reading when they visit a WordPress-enabled website.

Meanwhile, Facebook has also introduced a facility to help generate traffic to the uploaded blogs whereby search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques are deployed, drawing on comments entered in a newly expanded commenting area.

The enhanced integration between the two platforms, it is believed, could consequently lead to a rise in the number of WordPress blogs and articles featuring on the Facebook site; and, by the same token, could also see a potential rise in the number of new Facebook users, encouraged to join up in order to use the facility to widen the reach of their blogs.

Facebook claims that an estimated 17% of all internet content worldwide is created using the WordPress platform.

According to WordPress the new facility is just as compatible with uploads from mobile phones as it is with desktop devices.

The post Facebook introduces new input portal for WordPress content appeared first on PushON Ltd.

ERROR 1064 (42000) at line 1: You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ‘Usage: mysqldump [OPTIONS] database [tables] OR mysqldump [OPTIONS] –databa’ at line 1

To fix this, simply open the sql file in a text editor and remove the first four lines, namely:

Usage: mysqldump [OPTIONS] database [tables]
OR     mysqldump [OPTIONS] –databases [OPTIONS] DB1 [DB2 DB3...]
OR     mysqldump [OPTIONS] –all-databases [OPTIONS]
For more options, use mysqldump –help

Once these had been removed the database imported just fine. Happy days!

The post Easy fix for "the right syntax to use near ‘Usage: mysqldump" appeared first on PushON Ltd.

Does Google consider SEO to be spam?

Matt Cutt’s breaks it down for us in his video:
“SEO stands for Search engine optimisation and essentially just means trying to make sure your webpages are well represented within search engines”.

And consider the honest to goodness SEO measures (as Cutts does here) taken by righteous and idealistic optimisers – such as:
1. Making sure your pages are ‘crawlable’, or in other words, accessible to SEs.
2. Including the right search terms.
3. Improving usability through good design and internal linking structure.
One Youtube commenter had this to say:

And Matt’s final thoughts….
“There are many, many valid ways in which people can make the world better with SEO”
So the answer is no then. Cheers Matt.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BS75vhGO-kk

Google real-time analytics beta:

A new addition to Google Analytics (beta) will allow you to see real-time traffic data for your site. These new metrics include number of users on your site right now, which pages they are reading and referrals. The behaviour of potential customers coming at you live. Knowledge like this could be put to good marketing use.

Source: http://analytics.blogspot.com/2011/09/whats-happening-on-your-site-right-now.html

Useful Takeaways from Day 1 of the SearchLove 2011 conference:

Joost de Valk, Tom Critchlow and Rand Fishkin are just a handful of names from the list of SEO aristocracy who gave speeches at the conference.

Here are some of the best bits:
http://www.koozai.com/blog/events/135-takeaways-from-searchlove-day-1-searchlove/

Adwords ceases to support Internet Explorer 6 and introduces ‘bid-per-call’:

This is a notice to Google Adwords users who browse with IE6. Get yourself a new version by the end of the year.
In addition – Adwords is rolling out a phone call bidding scheme for its users.
Sources: http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/10/retiring-support-for-internet-explorer_27.html and http://adwords.blogspot.com/2011/10/introducing-bid-per-call-in-adwords.html

Broken link checker plugin for WordPress:

This new WordPress plugin will check all of the content on your site for broken links, redirects and missing images. It will then notify you on your dashboard or by email.
Site: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/broken-link-checker/

Google Maps allows you to see inside a shop!

Now, through the power Google, we can look inside a shop whilst exploring a Google map. The next generation of Street View. It just gets better and better.
I managed to get this far inside the comic store –

That shelf at the back looks a bit overloaded to me.

Site: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.742568,-117.820365&spn=0.004853,0.013561&sll=33.742814,-117.816672&layer=c&cid=7704649002191693046&panoid=qHPoNvOZOYBaFsE0vGCa5A&cbp=13,127.37,,0,11.85&gl=us&hq=comic+book+store+orange+county&t=h&vpsrc=0&cbll=33.742848,-117.816622&z=17

Insights into Google’s rating guidelines:

Dr. (SEOmoz) Pete lays down a few snippets of the recently leaked Google guidelines document; for those of you who missed it.
Source: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/16-insights-into-googles-rating-guidelines

And finally…

Many of you will have heard or seen ‘Take this Lollipop’. No more needs to be said – just go to the link here if you haven’t already and then check out this NY Times review (in that order).
Site: http://www.takethislollipop.com/

* A reference to the film – ‘Withnail and I‘

The post SEO Weekly Round-Up #13 appeared first on PushON Ltd.

1. WP No Category Base

Remove the mandatory /category/ section from category permalinks, resulting in more search engine friendly URLs.

2. All in One SEO Pack

It’s surprising how many WordPress websites still don’t use this. Customise META and title tags for each page/post, advanced canonical URLs and more.

3. Contact Form 7

Although not an “SEO plugin” as such, this is the best contact form plugin for SEO. Easily add success pages (to monitor conversions) and create page-specific forms to improve the ‘call to actions’ of a website.

4. Yoast Analytics

One of the many great plugins by Yoast. Easily install Google Analytics tracking on a WordPress website, with the added advantage of automatically tracking outbound links.

5. Google XML Sitemaps

An XML sitemap generator that will automatically notify the major search engines each time a new post or update is made in WordPress.

6. HTML Page Sitemap

Does what it says on the tin. Easily create a static sitemap that will help users navigate through your content.

7. Search Suggest

Another Yoast plugin. Provide your users with related queries and spelling suggestions when they perform a suggest, encouraging them to stay on your site for longer.

8. FD Feedburner Plugin

Redirect the default WordPress RSS feed to a Feedburner account, without the need for any template alterations or hassle.

Got a favourite WordPress SEO plugin? Let us know in the comments.

The post 8 WordPress SEO Plugins appeared first on PushON Ltd.

WordPress is fantastic, and it has been adopted by more and more people for use as not only their blog, but also their main website.  The features built in, plugins and free themes available make it very customisable, and it can function very well as a full content managed website.

The down side is that sneaky spammers have a blue print for the bank, and if they find a hole in security they can exploit this on any website with the same setup.

Website security is hugely dull, but a very necessary evil.

Here are some things you can do to reduce the chance your site will be compromised:

• Keep your WordPress install up to date – but leave it until full release is out rather than the beta release.
• Use the Security Scanner plugin to check you’ve not left any opportunities for hackers.
• Use the Secure WordPress plugin
• Change your administrator username to something other than admin, and generate a secure password… not your dogs name.
• Use .htaccess to limit access to wp-admin, wp-content, etc.
• Enhance your .htaccess file for extra security
• Install Login LockDown
• Be careful about which themes and plugins you install – you may be installing a virus, hidden links, etc.

To check whether you’re already a victim:

• Check what your site looks like with styles turned off, and with JavaScript turned off.  You may already have hidden spam links in your site.
• Check your Web Analytics – has your site had a sudden drop in traffic, or have you received traffic from keyword searches unrelated to your website?  This could indicate a problem with your website, but it could also indicate that your tracking code has been pinched and used on someone else’s site.
• Check your backlinks – if you have any suspicious links (unrelated, foreign, etc), this could be a warning sign… or it may be nothing to worry about.
• Check your common files or template files don’t have any strange code that uses the eval() command, or base64_decode() – cross reference against the original WordPress files or your original theme file.
• Look for ‘k1b0rg’ or ‘keymachine.de’ in your php scripts

How to fix your WordPress Security problem

I’m no expert in WordPress development, so if anyone has anything to add/amend on this topic, please shout up! But here is one simple process to follow if you find you are a victim of a security exploit, and cant deal with festering around in the code to delete corrupted files:

1. Take a backup of all your files
2. Take a backup of your database
3. Export your posts
4. Export your list of registered users
5. Make a note of the plugins you have installed
6. Make a note of your theme (and any mods you have made)
7. List all hyperlinks on your blog (use your sitemap)
8. Type a search in with your plugin name for each one you have installed, and see if there are comments about SQL injection, security holes, etc.  Take any of the plugins that look dangerous off your list for re-install.
9. Download all your safe plugins & a fresh version of your theme (if you’ve used a template)
10. Change your passwords for FTP & Database administration
11. Delete the WordPress files from your server
12. Drop the WordPress tables in your database related to this install (careful here particularly if you have other sites using the same database)
13. Download the latest full version of WordPress
14. Upload the files to your server & run through a fresh install
15. Import your posts back in
16. Change your options in permalinks to reflect your old site structure (this maintains any link equity you may have built up & reduces the chance of broken links to your site)
17. Install your safe plugins & activate
18. Install your theme & make your  modifications
19. Check your media (images, video, etc) is displaying correctly – you may need to upload images from your backup copy
20. Update your settings (blog title, All in one SEO title tags, etc)
21. Take all security measures listed in the list at the top of this blog post
22. Check nothing has broken in the process

Further reading:

• Geek Ramblings
• Matt Cutts Presentation
• 9 Easy ways to secure WordPress
• Have your stats been hijacked?
• Did your WordPress site get hacked?

The post Check Your WordPress Security appeared first on PushON Ltd.