Top 5 Issues All WordPress Bloggers Should Worry About
Blogging has been a trend for quite a while and it continues to be one of the best ways for people to communicate. It is also rather easy, as long as you have something to write about and for many people, it is a rather unexpected source of income. WordPress is technically a blogging site. It can be used by anyone but it has the advantage of having some advanced settings that people who are comfortable with computers can turn into some fetching blogs. PHP and MySQL knowledge can help you turn a WordPress blog into quite a pretty thing.
But, just like with everything that has many options, WordPress is a pretty good example that evolution leads to more new problems. Most of them are fixable and people with computer knowledge shouldn’t have many issues doing this. Here are some of the most pressing issues that a WordPress blogger has to consider:
1) WordPress is an open source program.
What this means is that its code is available for everyone to read. This is a good thing because everyone who knows how can know everything that WordPress does to their computer and no hidden tricks can be placed. The thing that you have to consider, though, is that someone with less honorable intentions and a good knowledge of computers can use the code to create programs that can harm you. Far-fetched but possible.
2) WordPress is insecure
Just like with everything online, security is the most important issue and WordPress’ history is not spotless in that regard: in 2007 a backdoor was introduced in some WordPress downloads which led to some commercial blogs edited with WordPress to be attacked.
In April 2011, it was revealed that a low-level break-in on a couple of WordPress servers, done by Automattic, could lead hackers to access all the information available on users.
3) Running an outdated version of the WordPress software is not just less pretty but it can also be a security issue.
Newer versions, on top of offering more options, usually also try to cover previous security issues. If you haven’t updated your WordPress software in a while, try to check that you have at least a version later than 2.7 – that was the last one that had a major security issue.
4) Plugins are not always the way to go
Plug-ins are usually considered an advantage of WordPress and the fact that everyone gets to contribute to it is usually a positive thing. However, before downloading a plug-in, make sure to read about it: some, either intentionally or not, can create additional vulnerabilities. Security plug-ins are a must, especially if you are concerned with privacy.
Check for plug-in issues, before choosing one. Even if security-wise a plug-in is safe, sometimes it can create other problems that can ruin your previous settings. Bad plug-ins can cause loss of information, at the very least.
5) Similar to plug-ins, WordPress themes have certain individual issues that should be checked before installation.
They may present links that you do not want on your blog, reveal more than you need or hide things that used to be visible. Generally speaking, if you do not have advanced computer knowledge, try to keep your blog as simple as possible. Variety can cause complications.
The author, Ajeet Khurana, is a teacher, author, and blogger. He is excited about his tech blog which he treats like a son; and he invites you to read his newborn, TechnoTropis too.
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19 Responses to “Top 5 Issues All WordPress Bloggers Should Worry About”
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Keeping your WordPress-Based website and plugins up to date with the latest upgrades often seems like a bother – but it’s certainly worth the time to protect the investment you’ve made in your websites – and especially your content!
I also agree that free WordPress Themes that don’t offer updates and support… are often worth less than you paid for them.
Doug
Bruce Jackson Reply:
September 7th, 2011 at 7:20 pm
At least with WordPress automatic updating of plugins is a 1-click process and you are notified immediately in Admin panel if updates are available.
Joomla makes this process really complicated – and you need to goto the developer website manually to see if updates are available – leading to many more security issues on this platform.
Yup, nice and simple steps to follow if you are new to WordPress. I found out the hard way about plugins. When I started out on WordPress and plugin download “broke” my blog and I didn’t know what to do to get it working again and panicked. Now I am careful about what install and if something breaks I know how to fix it in a lot of cases but cases like that are now a rarity and hopefully it will stay that way. Thanks for the helpful reminders!!
Hi,
what security plugins do you recommend?
thanks
The security issues car be said for alot of websites.. No one is every really “secure” just make sure to keep up to date and make back-ups.
The Pros for having WordPress far outweigh the cons!
Is there really anything that is secure? Products are created and there is always someone working to figure out a way to break in. All you can do is monitor what you have and back your stuff up. Thank god I have good tech support.
This may be the shittiest article I’ve read on Daily SEO Tip in a while; baseless FUD from a credential-less author. Seriously considered unsubscribing from the feed, decided to come and leave a comment instead. Please do not feature this guest blogger again.
I can agree with keeping your WordPress installation up to date, plugins up to date, and being wary on what you install. Other than that, this seems like scare tactics. For the security vulnerabilities side, quoting something in 2007 is pretty ancient. The vulnerability in 2011 that was quoted was, as you pointed out, found by Automattic and a fix was released. When companies find a flaw with their software and release a fix, that’s a good thing.
Point taken on keeping it up to date but I would place WordPress in a more secure category than most of the sites out there.
I use WordPress and agree about keeping the sites up-to-date but when new versions are available I always wait a few weeks to see if it has any reported issues before upgrading.
Seriously, It is also rather easy, as long as you have something to write about and for many people, it is a rather unexpected source of income, great work,keep it up..
My parent’s constantly remind me that” the lazy man goes through double the work”
It sounds a lot better in spanish “el vago pasa por doble el trabajo”
So if you don’t keep your wordpress installation up to date you might get hacked and have to revert to backups or even worst start from scratch.
So don’t be lazy. Update when possible
Hi, I am the author of this article and am delighted to see the response it has generated
@Gerri I am glad you liked the simple steps
@Thomas: Agreed. That is why WP increases in popularity
@Sonia: I agree, security is a moving target. The idea is to keep at it
@Jay: Wow!
@Jared: “Only the Paranoid Survive”
@Sara @cat beds: Agreed on all counts
@Clasificados: You just encouraged me not to be lazy and visit this page more often.
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The Right Managed IT Services and Tech Support at The Right Price in Waukesha, Milwaukee, and Brookfield
Again, this is my first Link Building request — which I was told by an outsider of our company we should request.
I understood this to be, provide some static links on our site that we’d like people to read and as well that we want Google to see that folks are linking to – and by that, that oDesk contractors should read and come up with keywords, short text and obviously have the URL to point to. They would then seek out PR, Paul&Angela Packet or blog sites that have similar types of audiences (small business, medium business, backup and disaster, etc).
The main page – www.airtechnologyservices.com is clearly an overall of all the other links.
Again, am I supposed to be supplying you with more? If I was given the task that I laid out, I would think I have all I need.
WordPress is good for general users, I have clients which our grandmas that can use it. There are many other scripts that was insecure, we notice wordpress more because its popular
Do you recommend any good security plugins?
as a beginner, I still use trial and error method, and apparently there are so many factor to make our site better, and for security, I only know update..update..and update security patch. Do you have any suggest for best plug in?
It has a lot of good points in it. Keep on posting good topics.
Word press is a wonderful blogging platform and I have not heard so many problems about it. Apart from having various themes it can also host sites for free. However there are a few problems one can encounter such as those you have mentioned on this post but if one is keen enough then he or she should not have so many problems or they may occur once in a while.