Who is this from?

Here is a screenshot of an email I recently received. However, contrary to all appearances, this email isn’t from Amazon. There are several things that make it appear legitimate at first: It closely follows the format of an Amazon email, complete with logo and small print. The order numbers look like actual orders I might… Read on…

Beware of not owning your own accounts

You probably have several accounts related to your online presence: your domain name registrar your website hosting company the website itself (e.g. your WordPress login) Perhaps you have more than one of each type of account, and you may have other accounts related to your website as well. Are all these accounts registered in your… Read on…

Will Google like my URL?

Note: This post follows a new format. The information below is general and doesn’t require technical knowledge. The companion post provides instructions so you can try these things yourself: Try It: Edit Your URLs. Whenever you write something to present to others — for example, a post on your website or a PDF document —… Read on…

Try It: Edit Your URLs

For general information about URLs, please see Will Google like my URL? Each page, post, and document on your website has a unique URL. Below are instructions covering various aspects of how to control your URLs. WordPress URLs Fortunately, for those of you who use WordPress, the URL of your post or page is automatically… Read on…

Where’s your data?

When a WordPress website is created, some parts if it are stored as files on your server. For example, any images you upload are stored as files, as are plugins and themes. If you were to log in to your server, you would see these files in a folder. However, there are many parts of… Read on…

Hacked! Spammed! Spoofed!

Despite the title of this note, I’m not an alarmist when it comes to malicious hacking. However, should your email or website become compromised, it’s a problem which can be time-consuming and costly to fix. At the bottom of this note are some basic recommendations for protecting your content, but first I want to provide… Read on…

How do I add images in WordPress 5?

WordPress 5 changes the way images are added to your content. Images now have their own image block. To add an image block to a post or page, first create a new block. There are several ways to do this, but the easiest is to put your cursor at the end of a paragraph block… Read on…

WordPress 5: A New Paradigm

If you have recently upgraded WordPress to 5, also known as Gutenberg, you’ll see that creating and editing pages and posts is a new experience. Instead of the WordPress visual editor you’re used to, you are now working with WordPress blocks. It is a completely different interface, and a completely different paradigm. For a real-world… Read on…

Two ways to increase your WordPress website’s speed

One of the goals of website development is to ensure that a website loads as quickly as possible. The speed is dependent on many variables, some of which have to do with the website itself, and some of which have to do with the server that the website lives on. This article addresses two of… Read on…

Google mobile-first indexing

Back in July, I published a note discussing how Google indexes and ranks your website. Here’s an important addition to that information. When I develop a new website for a client, I also set up a (free) Google Search Console account linked to the new website. This alerts Google that there is a new website… Read on…