Joshua + Schaible + Blog

Simple Ways To Beef Up Security On Wordpress.

Joshua Schaible — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:08:55 +0000

With Wordpress being a very popular free and open source software, it can be very easy for hackers to find vulnerabilities and exploit them on whoever they want. In this post I’m going to explain measures you can take to make sure your site doesn’t fall victim to an attack.

1. Run The Most Recent Version.

With each release comes new bugs and new vulnerabilities making it very important that you keep your WordPress up to date, as well as plugins that you have installed. Most newer versions even let you upgrade right within your WordPress Admin Panel.

2. Search For Vulnerabilities.

With the WP Security Scan plugin you can scan your WordPress installation for security vulnerabilities and it suggests corrective actions. It covers passwords, file permissions, database security, version hiding, WordPress admin protection/security and removes WP Generator META tag from core code.

3. Protect Your Login & Password.

Most people that want to hack a WordPress blog usually start first with trying to guess your password. Login LockDown records the IP address and timestamp of every failed login attempt. If more than a certain number of attempts are detected within a short period of time from the same IP range, then the login function is disabled for all requests from that range.

4. Secure Your Wordpress.

Secure WordPress helps to secure your WordPress installation by removing error information on login pages, adds index.html to the plugin directory, removes the WP-version, except in the admin area.

If you have other plugins or ways you secure your WordPress installations please put them in the comments!

Add Falling Snow To Your Website With Javascript!

Joshua Schaible — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:57:35 +0000

It’s that time again! The holidays are here and snow is everywhere. (At least where I live.) Here i’m going to show you how with one line of code and one JavaScript file, you can have a light snow storm on your website.

Step One

Download the snowstorm.js file. Then upload the javascript file into the root folder of your website or your designated /js/ folder.

Step Two

Place this code in the tags or the footer of your website:

<script src="snowstorm.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

<script src="js/snowstorm.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

Customizing

Inside the snowstorm.js file will be several options you can configure such as snow speed, snow color, snow size, how it interacts with mouse movements and so on. If you have questions, post it in the comments!

The Demo

View the demo here!

Code by Scott Schiller – http://schillmania.com

Upcoming Launch: FindBetaTesters.com

Joshua Schaible — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:03:24 +0000

Developers have a difficult time getting the word out and finding beta testers to rip apart the latest and greatest version of their app whether it’s for the iPhone, Android or even web based. And let’s face it, testing is a vital part of the development that needs to be done thoroughly to assure the success of an app.

FindBetaTesters.com will be a site where small or large developers can post free 30-day ads to find the right people with the right hardware to test their app. Testers will be compensated with either a free app or cash payment.

You can follow @findbetatesters on twitter for news about launch, and then links to new jobs being posted! Help spread the word to other developers!

http://findbetatesters.com

My Design Featured On Smashing Magazine!

Joshua Schaible — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 17:44:48 +0000

I had a huge surprise today when I was told a “Coming Soon” design I built for Greyscale Gorilla’s FiveSecondProjects.com was featured on SmashingMagazine.com! You can check out the article here and view the coming soon page here!

Get Super Creative Domain Names With Domai.nr!

Joshua Schaible — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:30:33 +0000

There’s a whole world of domains out there—hundreds at the top-level and even more beyond. Whether you want a short URL or something big, Domai.nr helps you explore them all. Its a superb tool! Check it out at http://domai.nr.

How To Redirect Users Using Javascript or PHP!

Joshua Schaible — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:14:29 +0000

Say your switching domains and you want to automatically forward users that go to your old domain, to get forwarded them to your new one. This can be accomplished with either Javascript or PHP.

Using Javascript

Insert this Javascript code into the head of your page (Most likely your index file):

<script type="text/javascript">

function delayer(){

    window.location = "http://joshuaschaible.com"

}

</script>

Replace “http://joshuaschaible.com/” with that URL you want to forward your users too. Then you must insert an “onload” function in your body tag. It should look like this:

<body onLoad="setTimeout(‘delayer()’, 5000)">

This tells the browser to forward to the site you specificed in 5 seconds. 5 Seconds = 5000. 4 Seconds = 4000 and so on.

Using PHP

If you want to automatically forward your users with out a delay, here is a simple step. First your index file must have an extention of .php. (ex. index.php) If it doesn’t you can do this in your control panel or FTP. Next, insert this code at the top of your web page.

  header ("Location: http://joshuaschaible.com");

?>

Again, make sure to change the URL so that your site doesn’t forward to mine.

Send SMS Text Messages Using HTML & PHP!

Joshua Schaible — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:17:45 +0000

Every once and a while I like to send my friends prank text messages to make them think someone is watching them. The problem is every time I use a free service, they some how cram an ad or spam into the message. I’m going to show you how you can send your own text messages using HTML/PHP. Demo & Download Included!

First

Create the form that you’ll put in your HTML:

<form id="sms" name="sms" method="post" action="sms/send_sms.php">
<input name="to" type="text" id="to" />
<select name="carrier" id="carrier">
           <option value="att">AT&T</option>

           <option value="verizon">Verizon</option>

           <option value="tmobile">T-Mobile</option>

           <option value="sprint">Sprint</option>

           <option value="virgin">Virgin Mobile</option>
</select>
<textarea name="message" rows="6" id="message"></textarea>
<input type="submit" name="Submit" value="Send" />
</form>

Second

Now we need the PHP to send the text message:

$to=$_POST[‘to’];
$carrier=$_POST[‘carrier’];
$message=stripslashes($_POST[‘message’]);
$headers=‘From: QuickText ’."\r\n";
if ((empty($to)) || (empty($message))) {

header ("Location: ../sms_error.php");

}
else if ($carrier == "verizon") {

$formatted_number = $to."@vtext.com";

mail("$formatted_number", " TXT Message", "$message" , "$headers");
header ("Location: ../sms_success.php");

}
else if ($carrier == "tmobile") {

$formatted_number = $to."@tomomail.net";

mail("$formatted_number", " TXT Message", "$message" , "$headers");
header ("Location: ../sms_success.php");

}
else if ($carrier == "sprint") {

$formatted_number = $to."@messaging.sprintpcs.com";

mail("$formatted_number", " TXT Message", "$message" , "$headers");
header ("Location: ../sms_success.php");

}
else if ($carrier == "att") {

$formatted_number = $to."@txt.att.net";

mail("$formatted_number", " TXT Message", "$message" , "$headers");

header ("Location: ../sms_success.php");

}
else if ($carrier == "virgin") {

$formatted_number = $to."@vmobl.com";

mail("$formatted_number", " TXT Message", "$message" , "$headers");
header ("Location: ../sms_success.php");

}
?>

The code above creates the MINIMUM basics that you need to send a text message. So I went ahead and added some simple styling, validation, support for the iPhone browser and more. Check out the demo and download the files below!

Feel free to use this code, build upon it and share it. But if you would be so kind, leave the footer link in the files. Thank you!

*Javascript used in this code example was written by my wife Lauren Schaible.

Make Your Own iPhone Home Screen Icon!

Joshua Schaible — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:16:30 +0000

The iPhone home screen icon is the ultimate visual reminder for someone to revisit your web-app or mobile friendly site. I’m going to show you four simple steps to making your own icon and installing it on your site.

First

Create a 57 x 57 .png file in Photoshop or your favorite image editor.

Second:

Insert your artwork to make your icon pretty.

Third

Save the file for web & devices with the name “apple-touch-icon.png.”

Fourth

Now just upload this file to the root folder of your website. Don’t confuse this with the root folder of your web server. Now if you don’t want to have it in the root folder and you want to place it in the images folder, you can insert this code into the header of your site:

<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="images/apple-touch-icon.png"/>

Thats it! Your done! You can now go to your site on your iPhone or iTouch and test it!

ShakeItPhoto Website Redesign & Makeover!

Joshua Schaible — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 19:28:08 +0000

A couple weeks ago I had the privilege of helping Nick Campbell (GreyscaleGorilla.com) with the complete redesign of the ShakeItPhoto App website. The whole project was based off the new icon which was done by Margot from Pitch Design Union. If you haven’t already, check out the new site, and then buy the app!

Track Outgoing Links With jQuery And G-Analytics!

Joshua Schaible — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:35:48 +0000

This is an explanation of how you can track single outgoing links with some jQuery and Google Analytics. Why would you do this? Say your selling an iPhone app, and you have a few ads/links on your own site linking to that iPhone app in iTunes, and you want to know how many people are clicking on that ad vs. the people buying the app. Sound like something you need? Lets get started.

If you don’t have a Google Analytics account, go make one and come back once you have installed the tracking code in the footer of your website. Don’t worry, this post will wait for you.

Step #1

Enter this into the of your website if your not already using the jQuery library.

<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.2.6/jquery.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

Step #2

Now go to the specific link that you want to track the clicks on. Your basic html link will probably look like this:

<a href="http://joshuaschaible.com/myiphoneapp" target="_blank">Buy My App!a>

All we have to do is add one javascript variable:

onClick=‘javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview("/outgoing/NAME-HERE");’

Add the onClick function and your link will look like this:

<a onClick=‘javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview("/outgoing/NAME-HERE");’ href="http://joshuaschaible.com/myiphoneapp" target="_blank">Buy My App!a>

Where it says “NAME-HERE” you should put a name or identifier of what your tracking. For example:

<a onClick=‘javascript: pageTracker._trackPageview("/outgoing/myiphoneapp");’ href="http://joshuaschaible.com/myiphoneapp" target="_blank">Buy My App!a>

Step #3

Log into Google Analytics. In the left hand side go to “Content” and then to “Top Content.”

At the bottom there will be a search box which says “Filter Page.” Type in “outgoing”. It should then show you all records of /outgoing/ clicks. According to our example it should say “/outgoing/myiphoneapp/ and show you the amount of clicks and the amount of unique page views.

Click to enlarge!

Remember…

Google Analytics doesn’t work in real time yet, so you may have to wait up to 24 hours to start seeing the click numbers go up! Hope you enjoyed! Please comment with any questions!