If I wasn’t paying attention, how did I find out, you ask? I planned a sale on my jewelry website, only to find out it had been hacked. And so began my two month journey to remove/replace all the hacked code across my websites.

When I finally had a chance to start working on the jewelry website (because as is the plight of an independent contractor, clients come first always), I was able to migrate it from Textpattern to WordPress, but not without some trouble. The latest of which was fixing a discrepancy with post comment counts in WordPress.

I originally tried a few solutions, but myPHPAdmin was yelling at me… it didn’t like how the SQL was formatted for making the updates. Another quick search and I found this post: Reseting Post and Comment Count in WordPress by Ankur Banerjee. He wasn’t sure that it would function on everyone’s servers due to timeout settings, but it worked like a charm for me.

How about you out there porting from Textpattern to WordPress… What issues did you encounter that were not easily handled by the Textpattern importer plugin in WordPress?

Our Direction by B Tal, on Flickr

Last week I mentioned that I was guilty – I hadn’t spent enough time on this business blog. I also mentioned I wasn’t sure of the direction of the blog. Sadly, it’s been a week and I’m still not quite sure.

I guess I have this idea that a blog should be passionate. A blog should be focused. A blog should be such that you know your readers look forward to what you have to say. For me and this blog, I can’t say it’s ever been like that. I’ve just blogged to blog. I blogged because I thought it was what I had to do. I blogged because I wanted to showcase some of what I do. I blogged because I thought it would add revenue to my business. Past that, there was no other reason.

If you think about what I just said, really it was all about me talking to you… not with you. Doesn’t make much for wanting to come back and see what I have to say. A blog should really be about conversation, not a soapbox from which to preach.

Putting thought into the direction of this blog, I realized what I want from it is something totally different from what it’s been in the past. Tara Gentile just about says it best when she wrote:

“I want to have the ideas, the passion, and the drive that inspires people & moves them to action.”

I love that thought! That is exactly what I want out of this blog. I want to enjoy my blogging experience with the business and I want to feel like you, as a reader, enjoy what I have to say. I want to feel like what I share compels you to respond and that it brings value to your life.

Which leaves me wondering where that leaves us. Where do we go from here? As far as I’m concerned, my blog is only useful if it serves a purpose for you and for me. Maybe I should ask you something different…

What do you want to see on this blog?

cobweb by Redworm, on Flickr

Very guilty. You’re probably wondering about what. Well, the sad reality is I’m guilty about not updating this blog. I have cobwebs on this blog it’s been so long since I last updated it.

I’ve been blessed with plenty of work and for that I’m grateful. But as with many other things, it’s important to maintain priorities and this blog just hasn’t been one of them. I haven’t been taking this blog seriously and reading the  Five and a half signs you don’t take your business website seriously post on Be Awesome Online really brought that home for me.

Granted, only one of the points in the post really applies to me (point #3, if you’re curious), but it’s enough for me to want to get my butt in gear and start keeping you better informed about what is going on in the background here at YazminMedia. I also had a little nudge from the Are You Spending Enough Time On Your Own Website? post on Freelance Switch, enough to get me to write this post, even though I’m not sure of the direction of my blog.

But I’m thinking about it… and just wanted to let you know that I was still here and still doing plenty of work. So contact me if you’re looking for a developer.

Here is the second one in the series of projects I’ve had on the backburner. If you’re looking for a Halloween costume, go check it out!

I don’t get very many opportunities to play around with personal projects, so I’m very glad to announce the completion of this website. If you’re looking for a Halloween costume, go check it out!

Just finished a website for my church, Family By Faith Worship Center. It’s a Flash movie that defines what adoption means to them. Go check it out!

Thank you to our troops who serve for our freedom!
May yours be safe and happy!

Please pardon this mass email. If you are running a Zen Cart store, it’s important that you read this message and take action immediately.

A vulnerability has been discovered in the admin section of v1.3.8 (and previous versions). To take advantage of this vulnerability any attacker must know the URL of your admin section. As our security recommendations point out, you should change the folder that your admin resides in as soon as you installed Zen Cart.

SO — THE FIRST STEP YOU **NEED** TO TAKE is to rename your /admin/ folder!
http://tutorials.zen-cart.com/index.php?article=33

However we realise that relying on this ‘Security through Obscurity’ is not foolproof, hence the release of a patch, which can be downloaded from the Zen Cart Support forum, here: http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130161

The zip file there contains a readme.html with full details on how to install the security patch files. The security patch uses Zen Cart’s override system to make installation as simple as possible.

The security patch will work for previous versions in the 1.3.x series.

Older releases i.e v1.2.x are no longer supported and the patch has not been fully tested on those versions, however some parts of the patch should still work with v1.2.x (again see the readme.html file). However we strongly advise anyone using the 1.2.x versions to upgrade to 1.3.8 as soon as possible.

The Zen Cart Team takes security matters very seriously. But security is only as good as those who follow posted recommendations. Please apply the appropriate patches and security measures promptly, for your own benefit.

SUMMARY: Your Action Steps are:

1. RENAME YOUR ADMIN FOLDER !!!!!
Yes, if you haven’t already renamed your /admin/ folder, do it NOW!
Instructions can be found here: http://tutorials.zen-cart.com/index.php?article=33

2. APPLY THE SECURITY PATCH !!!
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130161

3. Subscribe yourself to the Zen Cart Announcements mailing list:
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/subscription.php?do=addsubscription&f=2

4. Keep your site’s Zen Cart software up-to-date at all times. Numerous bugs, improvements, and security fixes are included in every new release. It is in your best interests to remain current.
http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2

Sincerely,

The Zen Cart Team

Make sure you keep your software patched and up-to-date to avoid hacking! If you need help updating your software, contact me today!This weekend, I received the following email from the Zen Cart folks. If you are running Zen Cart, you’ll definitely want to make sure you read this:

Please pardon this mass email. If you are running a Zen Cart store, it’s important that you read this message and take action immediately. A vulnerability has been discovered in the admin section of v1.3.8 (and previous versions). To take advantage of this vulnerability any attacker must know the URL of your admin section. As our security recommendations point out, you should change the folder that your admin resides in as soon as you installed Zen Cart. SO — THE FIRST STEP YOU **NEED** TO TAKE is to rename your /admin/ folder! http://tutorials.zen-cart.com/index.php?article=33 However we realise that relying on this ‘Security through Obscurity’ is not foolproof, hence the release of a patch, which can be downloaded from the Zen Cart Support forum, here: http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130161 The zip file there contains a readme.html with full details on how to install the security patch files. The security patch uses Zen Cart’s override system to make installation as simple as possible. The security patch will work for previous versions in the 1.3.x series. Older releases i.e v1.2.x are no longer supported and the patch has not been fully tested on those versions, however some parts of the patch should still work with v1.2.x (again see the readme.html file). However we strongly advise anyone using the 1.2.x versions to upgrade to 1.3.8 as soon as possible. The Zen Cart Team takes security matters very seriously. But security is only as good as those who follow posted recommendations. Please apply the appropriate patches and security measures promptly, for your own benefit. SUMMARY: Your Action Steps are: 1. RENAME YOUR ADMIN FOLDER !!!!! Yes, if you haven’t already renamed your /admin/ folder, do it NOW! Instructions can be found here: http://tutorials.zen-cart.com/index.php?article=33 2. APPLY THE SECURITY PATCH !!! http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130161 3. Subscribe yourself to the Zen Cart Announcements mailing list: http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/subscription.php?do=addsubscription&f=2 4. Keep your site’s Zen Cart software up-to-date at all times. Numerous bugs, improvements, and security fixes are included in every new release. It is in your best interests to remain current. http://www.zen-cart.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2 Sincerely, The Zen Cart Team

Make sure you keep your software patched and up-to-date to avoid hacking! If you need help updating your software, contact me today!

That’s what happened to this Web site. It became one of the many victims of “doing life”…but no more! I’ve taken steps to revitalize this Web site and to keep my clients better informed.

The first step was to convert the backend of this Web site from Textpattern to WordPress. While Textpattern has been an excellent CMS, I realized that I really did want to start blogging on this site. In order to do that, I decided to go with WordPress, a platform that was built for just that…blogging.

While things aren’t exactly as they were with Textpattern, the design of the site has mainly remained the same. You will also noticed that I now have a monthly newsletter (to which I encourage you to sign up) with tips, updates and news pertaining to YazminMedia and to keeping your site profitable and up-to-date.

In the meantime, welcome to the newly updated YazminMedia Web site! Glad to have you here.

Originalmente diseñado con paginas estáticas, A Pretty Rock, que vende joyas de plata hechase a mano, fue rediseñado con un back-end muy facile de usar. El sistema nuevo permite el añadir de productos nuevos a el sitio web con facilidad y ayuda a la dueña mantener contenido fresco a través de un sistema de gestión de contenidos. Si buscas prendas únicas y de calidad reliquia, debes visitar A Pretty Rock.

Unfortunately for some of you there are some site design/set up issues that can make it very difficult for the search engines to list your web pages no matter how well you optimize and submit them. I’ve listed them here, before you get into optimization, to hopefully save you from trying to list a site that that will be very difficult to get listed. Almost everything can be fixed or worked with one way or another before you submit. The most common problems are sites that use:

• Frames
• Dynamic URLs
• Flash
• Image Maps for navigation
• Javascript for navigation

In Part I of this article, we’ll talk about Frames:

The problem is that search engines do not index framed sites very well. In fact, the search engines do such a poor job of indexing frames that I recommend redesigning your site without them if you want to get good listings in the search engines.

Now, if your site must use frames there are some tips I recommend you implement to make sure that you get the best listings you can even with frames.

The problem:
A frame is exactly what the name conveys – they are an HTML page that “frames” other HTML pages. Now, the problem arises when you go to submit. In most cases a framed site will only have one page you can submit, the home page. Since your site uses frames the home page actually has nothing that the search engine can use (i.e. page copy) to determine how to list your site. Why? Because your home page is actually a frameset which does not have any real content. Here’s an example that should help you see what we mean. Keep in mind this code is what the search engines see:

I can’t explain everything about frames here, but you should easily be able to see in the above example that their is no real content for the search engine to use to determine how to list your site. All that is there is HTML code. The result is a framed site will often not get listed at all, and if it does it will usually be listed very poorly.

The solution:

While the best solution is to get rid of your frames, I realize that can’t always be done. The next best thing you can do to improve your results is to use the:

</pre>
<p>tag within your frameset. This tag was originally used for displaying content to people using older web browsers that did not support viewing frames. While just about all web browsers now support frames the noframes tag can still be used for content that will help your framed site get listed. In addition, you should also implement the best title tag and meta tags that you can.</p>
<p><strong>Where it belongs:</strong></p>
<p>The noframes  tag belongs just before the frameset tag for your frameset, as you can see below in red:</p>
<pre>
<html>
<head>

</head>
<frameset cols="150,*">
<frame name="contents" target="main">
<frame name="main">
<noframes>
Your optimized page content gets added here.

Here are some additional tips:

• Place optimized content within the body tags that you see above within the noframes tag. An easy way to do this is to create a new regular (not framed) home page for your site that describes your site, products & services. Often the content can be taken directly from one of your existing framed pages. Once you have the page created view the HTML of the page and copy everything from within the body and body tags. Then paste the new content within the opening and closing body tags found within the noframes tags of your frameset. A complete page (including all the HTML) can be placed within the body tags.
• Search engines like simple HTML pages, so since it is very unlikely anyone will ever see this noframes content we recommend keeping it very simple and text based for best results.
• Make sure all your noframes content is optimized.
• Include links in the noframes content to all of the other important pages on your site so that the search engine will crawl and index them too.
]]> http://yazminmedia.com/blog/are-you-built-for-search-engines-part-i/feed/ 0 http://yazminmedia.com/blog/site-launch-erslowly/ http://yazminmedia.com/blog/site-launch-erslowly/#comments Tue, 28 Jun 2005 10:01:00 +0000 Yazmin http://yazminmedia.com/blog/?p=29 I’ve been working on migrating www.yazmin.net over to Yazmin Media, but the work has been slow. Multiple contracts for new clients and just general daily life have been interfering. So please excuse the mess and look forward to a completed site!
]]> http://yazminmedia.com/blog/site-launch-erslowly/feed/ 0 http://yazminmedia.com/blog/first-post/ http://yazminmedia.com/blog/first-post/#comments Mon, 27 Jun 2005 09:48:00 +0000 Yazmin http://yazminmedia.com/blog/?p=4 It’s no secret…your business has a problem. You have to find a method to attract new customers and retain current ones if you want to get ahead. If you’re like me; you’re a frugal, money-wise business owner, trying to make every penny count. So how do you get the most bang for your buck? A website.

Most customers today expect you to have a website, to provide them access to your services or at least an alternate method of contact. It almost ranks as much a necessity as the telephone, fax machine, business cards, and printed brochures you use in your daily business.

Aside from what your customers expect, your website can also help you increase profits. More and more people are using the Internet to locate businesses providing the product or service they seek, even outside of the United States. If they don’t find you, I can guarantee it that they will find your competitor.

So, what can a website do for me, you ask? The two main benefits are that you can:

* Save time. With a website, you can get information and documents into your customer’s hands quicker than using a fax machine. Much company time and effort is often wasted by repeatedly providing the same information either by phone or in person. With a frequently asked questions section on your site, you can also provide answers to your most common business questions.

* Save money. A website is a brochure that is available to the world 24/7. You can make your advertising money go that extra mile by directing customers to your website with a note in print ads. Instead of reprinting flyers and brochures, you can keep customers up to date by providing current information on your website with a minimal cost.

In addition, you can also make it easier for potential customers to find you, provide customer support, inform your visitors of the latest industry news, make all your company forms available for instant download, reach a larger audience, sell your products online, foster a professional image and create a community that people will want to visit again and again. Most importantly, these are all just the starting benefits of owning a website.

So…is it time you got a website?

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