I don’t mean to be an alarmist! Just want to spread the word. I just got hacked on two of my sites – one that uses Canvas, one uses Thesis. One was a total loss – the other I was able to save, 4 hours later. They both use a script called Tim Thumb that dynamically resizes images. The script is a security risk and needs to be updated. The hackers install MalWare and it can damage the computer of anyone who visits your site. AND your site can get Blacklisted by Google and other search engines.

To fix it you need to upgrade to the newest version of your theme (Canvas or Thesis – or whatever you are using), upgrade WordPress, and all your plug-ins. A good precaution is to have IDrive Installed, or another backup utility installed on the site. You’ll want to do a backup and then, if you’re using Canvas or another WooThemes theme, you can export/import your customization settings on your theme installation. Then upgrade the theme, WordPress, and all of your plug-ins

Good luck. I know It’s a pain to upgrade but I highly recommend you do.

The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation. -Henry David Thoreau

Yesterday, I crawled out of bed at 4am so that I could drive 3 hours to attend a retreat for women entrepreneurs. “Inspiring Women’s Success,” it was called, and it was put on by a women’s networking group in Central New York called Women TIES. The reason I attended was mainly to begin my career as a networker – something that, as a lifelong introvert and shy person, I have resisted with all my being. So, in order to trick my ego into letting up on the sabotage, I told myself I was coming there to learn – about being a successful entrepreneur, and to learn about people. When it got really overwhelming, I even tried the trick of assuming the role of someone else – in this case, I assumed the role of a journalist who was coming to watch and learn how people networked. To learn how effortlessly they exchanged business cards and made small talk.

Two days before this event, I had a sort-of crisis day. I had talked to my mentor the day before and we discussed that I needed to make the decision – on a daily basis – to commit to what it took to be successful. See, making the connections and seeing the patterns in my life that hold me back – that part is comfortable for me. The uncomfortable part is taking action – even small steps, on a daily basis.

So, two days before the retreat, I took a long morning walk and asked myself, “Are you willing to make this decision every day? Will you make it today?” And I couldn’t definitively answer yes. So I asked myself, “Are you willing to throw in the towel and go get a job? Because there’s no shame in that, if that’s what makes you happy.”

I contemplated this question for a while. Because even though on the surface, my knee-jerk is to say “no way,” there is a part of me that, I have to admit, sometimes longs to get out of the hot seat.

But what I finally came up with is that I can’t escape myself. Even if I did choose the road of working for someone else, I would still need to make the decision to be successful in my life. I would still need to stop letting excuses hold me back.

So, for that day, I chose to recommit, if only for the reason that I just couldn’t not-commit.

*******

Yesterday, at the retreat, I listened to the keynote speaker, Julie Pech, talk about how she came to be The Chocolate Therapist. She talked about loving what you do. She talked about how, when you love what you do, it’s not a matter of discipline anymore. You just do it. I had to question myself, again: Do I love what I do? I love lots of things about what I do, but am I truly following my bliss?

She recounted a story of when she was writing her book, The Chocolate Therapist: A User’s Guide to the Extraordinary Health Benefits of Chocolate, while at the same time going through a divorce. She asked herself the question, “If I strip away everything I believe about myself, what is left?” Her answer led to her selling her apparel business, writing a book, and eventually opening up a chocolate shop in Denver, Colorado.

Last night, after I got home, my husband and I sat down to watch some episodes of The X-Files on Netflix. We’ve been making our way back through the show for the past few months. Last night we watched an episode called “Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man.”

If you’re not familiar with the X-Files, just briefly, The Cigarette Smoking Man, or Cancer Man, is Fox Mulder’s arch-nemesis and a pretty vile character. But this particular episode is the story of how the Cigarette Smoking Man is living this quietly desperate life, all the time wishing he could escape from his existence of conspiracy and cigarettes and simply follow his dream of being a published writer.

Watching this episode was actually painful for me. I empathized with this vile character so deeply. Because, to see someone trapped and not following their dreams… to me, that is the worst tragedy that can fall upon a life. I know that sounds dramatic, but to me, it’s true.

*****

This morning, before I began my day, I thought of Julie Pech and, in all honestly, I envied her. Now, a lot of people would look at my life and envy me. I have my own creative business, as a graphic and web designer. People say I am very talented. I work with really cool clients. I am living my dream (or am I?).

But there was something about Julie that I envied, because she is really and truly a rock star. I’ve been a rock star and I’ve tried to coax it out of myself, to be someone who (for once!) just… fits in. But Julie is standing there with her wild woman hair and black satin cargo pants, telling her story of how she stripped herself down to her most basic belief and built her life back up, in a way so that, as she says, when she is 90 years old and sitting in her rocking chair, she can tell her grandkids: “Yes! I did it!”

And so, as I laid there, I asked myself her question. “If I strip away everything I believe about myself, what is left?”

I waited for the answer. This is what I got:

“The one thing I know, deep in my heart, is that our hopes, dreams, and aspirations, are the paths along which we find true happiness, and that only through following them can we discover our life’s purpose.”

And so, today, I am making the commitment to do what it takes; to begin building Sandra Gardner Creative as a company that reflects who I am, launches my dream, and supports women in getting on that path and following theirs. I am not totally sure what that will mean, but I know that if I stay true to that path, those answers will come in time. The first step is making the decision to strip everything away, and then finding the discipline to start building it back up. Everything else will follow in place.

It’s going to be–no, it’s already–a late night, and a part of me hates that, but another part thrives on it. Truthfully, it’s one of the only times of day that I get to really “feel” my own energy. The orange cat who was sleeping next to me has headed off to the mudroom and I’m looking around at the leftover messes from the day. A dinosaur here, a half-built LEGO car there. Proof that there’s a young, dinosaur-obsessed seven-year-old living under this roof.

So what does it mean to be a late-night entrepreneur? I remember talking to my friend Melissa Gordon about this six or seven years ago, when my son Laszlo was less than a year old. We both agreed that there has to be a better way, yet neither of us has really found it. I want it both ways: I want my son raised by me (not at daycare) and I want to work. I want to be present for him when he’s with me (okay, I’m not 100% there yet, but I endeavor to be more present each day) and I want to be present for work when I’m working.

I remember talking to another young mom about 5 years ago. She asked me “When do you get work done?” in a tone of voice that told me she was really convinced some mother out there had found this holy grail, and if she only asked enough of them, she’d surely find an answer. “Well, I work when Laszlo sleeps. Well, sort of.” I went on to explain that usually when he’s sleeping I’m catching up on everything I’ve been wanting to do–the keywords there being “I” and “wanting.” I don’t always work when he’s sleeping, because what I really want is time to myself. Sometimes I take it and feel selfish. Sometimes I don’t and then rebel later. What do I really want? I really want to just have some FUN.

The cat’s back from the mudroom, stretching out on the floor. It’s been nearly an hour since I’ve done anything productive. The truth is, at this point the only reason I’m awake is because, well, I’m awake. It’s a momentum thing. I’ll go to bed in a few minutes and lie there and wait for sleep to come, while thinking of marketing and networking and life’s purpose–everything except sleeping. And then, after far too few hours have passed, the alarm will start going off, and I’ll start snooze-abusin’ for sure. But hey, it was a productive night, and for now, that’s all that matters.

But as for tomorrow, what’s on the agenda?

FUN. (If I can keep my eyes open.)

I’ve been using a Beta version of 3.0 for a month or so on a site I’m developing. I’m very impressed. WordPress 3.0 is amazing and lovely. Its default theme is so much more well-designed than the dreaded Kubrick. (Who thought that was a good idea? Sorry.) WP 3.0, most importantly for me, does a lot of things that those of us who have been developing on WordPress for a long time are really happy it does. Like what?

Well, I feel like we – the WP user community – jumped the gun on turning WP into a CMS (content management system). We did this in the loveliest way (lovely is my favorite word today, apparently) through all sorts of nice plug-ins and tweaks, but it was really still pretty clunky (as a CMS, I mean. Remember, it’s a blogging engine). WP 3.0 is WordPress’s attempt to take a step towards meeting us halfway to being a real CMS. Page management, for one thing, is super easy compared to the old version.

So, the short answer is yes. You should upgrade to 3.0.

And no. You should wait.

Wait for 3.1. My guess is that it will be available pretty soon after 3.0 is released. Everyone who is beta testing 3.0, and all the new, excited people who are already running it, will give WordPress feedback on what needs to be fixed, and then the WordPress developers will fix it and release 3.1.

In the meantime, take a moment to backup your WordPress installation, relax, take a deep breath, and enjoy your weekend. Then you can upgrade. No rush.

(How do I backup my installation? Here’s my tutorial on just that: Part 1, How Do I Back Up My WordPress Blog Or Site? and Part 2, How Do I Back Up the Rest Of My WordPress Site? (Uploaded Media, Plug-ins, Style Sheets, etc.)

Need help? Contact me through Twitter, Facebook, Email, or set up a time to talk.

Yesterday, I showed you how to set up automatic backups of your WordPress SQL Database. Today we will do part 2 – Backing Up Your WP-Content Folder.

What is the WP-Content folder, you ask?

It’s a folder that gets installed with WordPress. It contains your themes, plug-ins, any media you’ve uploaded to WordPress (such as video, audio, images, etc.), as well as customizations to style sheets, and more. Most of the time you probably don’t give it a second thought, but if you had to reinstall WP, all of this stuff would get overwritten, so it’s a good idea to back it up on a timely basis, and it’s simple enough to do.

Here’s how…

Step 1

You’ll need access to your server’s files somehow: Either FTP or SSH access, or if you’re logging in through cPanel (or whatever your hosting company’s control panel is called), you’ll be able to access this through something with a name like File Manager.

Step 2

Once you’re on your server and you have access to its files, navigate to the folder called “WP-content.”

Step 3

Save this entire folder to your back-up source. (Your back-up source is a fancy way of saying “your hard drive.” Seriously, though, you might saving it somewhere else, right?)

Step 4

Now if you ever need to restore your installation of WP, you’ve got all the content tugged snugly away.

That’s it for backing up the rest of your site. You don’t need to back up WP itself – you can always download the most recent version from wordpress.org.

Need help? Have a plug-in that will do this automatically? Send me a tweet and let me know!

Here’s how to set up automatic backups of your WordPress SQL Database (it holds all your pages and posts but none of your plugins, settings, themes, etc.)

Step 1

Install the plug-in WP-DBManager (see documentation for installing Plug-ins here: http://readymadewebdesign.com/blog/2010/03/question-how-do-i-add-a-plug-in-to-an-existing-wordpress-blog/)

WP-DBManager
Manages your WordPress database. Allows you to optimize database, repair database, backup database, restore database, delete backup database , drop/empty tables and run selected queries. Supports automatic scheduling of backing up and optimizing of database.

Version 2.50 | By Lester ‘GaMerZ’ Chan | Visit plugin site

Step 2

After it’s installed you’ll get this message at the top of the screen:

Your backup folder MIGHT be visible to the public

Step 3

To correct this, log into the account’s FTP using Fetch or whatever you use for FTP.
Go to the folder wp-content/plugins/wp-dbmanager
Get (geek-speak for download) a copy of the file htaccess.txt
Go to the folder wp-content/backup-db
Put (geek-speak for upload) the htacess.txt file – but change its name to .htaccess

Step 4

Setup Wp-DBManager.
From your WordPress Dashboard, you’ll see a fancy new button on the bottom left called “Database”
Click on it. It will expand.
Click on DB Options.

Step 5

From Database > DB Options, scroll down to the bottom of the page. You’ll see:

Automatic Scheduling
Automatic Backing Up Of DB

Choose the appropriate settings from here depending on how often you want the DB backed up and where you want the Backup sent to. I like to create a new gmail account specifically for this purpose and have my DB backups mailed there.

That’s it for backing up the Database. You still need to back up the WordPress folders and files, but I do that separately. Here’s how.

Need help? Send me a tweet if you get stuck and I’ll see what I can do to help!

You’ll need to access your database php.ini file.

Does that sound intimidating? If it does, you may want to get your web designer or developer – or at the very least, a tech-savvy VA – to do this for you.

If you’re not intimidated, read on…

Step 1:

Using File Manager, FTP, or SSH, or via cPanel’s myPHP tool, you’ll need to locate a file named php.ini. If you’re working in MediaTemple, it will be in a path that looks something like this:

/home/#####/etc/php.ini.sample

(The ##### corresponds to your account number.)

Step 2:

Find the lines in this file that starts off:

post_max_size =
upload_max_filesize =

Step 3:

Change these lines so they list a number, in megabytes, that accommodates your needs. Something like:

post_max_size = 20M
upload_max_filesize = 20M

Step 4:

Save your changes.

Step 5:

If you’re using FTP, upload this file to your server. (You may want to save the old version of the file with a different name, such as php-ORIG.ini. Just in case something goes wrong, you can change it back to the original version.)

Step 6:

If you’re in MediaTemple or using cPanel’s File Manager, just click on “Save.”

If you’re using MediaTemple, here’s their tutorial page:
http://kb.mediatemple.net/questions/137/How+can+I+edit+php.ini+on+the+%28gs%29+Grid-Service%3F

Well. . .  Before I answer that, let me ask you a question first:

Are you running the blog on wordpress.com or are you self-hosting the blog through wordpress.org?

First, the bad news: If it’s on wordpress.com, you can’t add plug-ins. Plug-ins can only be added to self-hosted blogs that are run off of the WordPress software downloaded from the .org address.

If you are running it off the .org version of the software, here’s what you do.

Step 1:

Log into your dashboard.

Step 2:

Along the lefthand side, find the tab titled “Plug-ins.”

Step 3:

Click on it to expand the menu.

Step 4:

Click on “Add New.”

Step 5:

Either search or browse for the plug-in you want to add.

Step 6:

You can also upload a zipped plug-in (across the top, under “Install Plug-ins” you’ll see the text “Upload”).

Step 7:

When you find the plug-in you want to add, to the far right of the Plug-in’s name, click on “Install.”

Step 8:

A lightbox will appear; click on the “Install” button.

Step 9:

WP should automatically install it, showing you a dialog of the installation process.

Step 10:

From here, you may have some options for the settings of your new plug-in, but it can often be tricky locating where you’re supposed to set them. Some obvious places are under the left-hand side tabs “Settings,” “Tools,” or “Appearance.” You’ll have to poke around there to figure out what your settings need to be.

Step 11:

For more information, check the plug-in’s website. You’ll usually find it listed underneath the name of the plug-in in the plug-ins list.

If you are running wordpress.com, you can still have some fun!

There are add-ons, widgets, etc that you can use for Twitter, and more – all from within wordpress.com.

Need help? Send me a tweet if you get stuck on a plug-in and I’ll see what I can do to help!

Answer: Yup! You sure can.

One of the things I didn’t like at first about using a CMS like WordPress is that I didn’t think I could search the pages of a website like I can using a traditional HTML-based builder such as Dreamweaver. But, au contraire! I recently discovered that you can search within pages and posts, and it’s really easy.

(It’s also one of what I call my “duh” moments… Like, it was staring me in the face all that time and I never noticed it. But anyway.)

Here’s how…

Step 1:

Log into your dashboard.

Step 2:

On the left-hand side of your dashboard, click on either “Posts” or “Pages” (depending on which one you want to search).

Step 3:

From that menu, click on “Edit.”

Step 4:

Look on the top right-hand side of your screen, just under the dark gray bar that has that whole “Howdy, (username) | Turbo | Log Out” stuff.

Step 5:

Find the search box with the button next to it that says “Search Posts” or “Search Pages.”

Step 6:

Type in the text you’re looking for, and WP will serve you up a list of posts or pages that contain it!