Archive | Blog RSS feed for this section

Recommended WordPress Discussion Settings

WordPress commenting is a common target for spammers. There are several plugins that can help with spam filtering, but many people overlook some simple discussion settings in the basic WordPress install.

In the Admin area, navigate to Settings > Discussion.

Here is a screenshot of our minimum recommended settings:

WordPress Discussion Settings

Additionally, you can check the boxes under “Before a comment appears” to moderate comments further. Checking “An administrator must always approve the comment” requires every comment to be held in moderation until you approve it.

Checking “Comment author must have a previously approved comment” allows you to approve a comment author’s first comment, and then automatically approve all future comments from that author.

The most effective setting change is to lower the “Hold a comment in the queue if it contains __ or more links” from 2 to 1. Most spam bots post links inside the content of their comment. Most commenters do not.

More information can be found in the WordPress Codex.

Google Docs Upgraded!

Google Docs just got much closer to becoming the perfect solution for small businesses and non-profits. Why buy Microsoft Office when you can do everything in the cloud, and seamlessly collaborate in real time?

Check out this quick overview:

Read more on the official Google Docs blog.

Does your small business or non-profit want to know more about using Google Apps and/or Google Docs? We’ve had several successful implementations and can help you out today!

Stop wasting time with the old way of doing things, and jump into the cloud and embrace this new technology! It will save you time and money, and we’ll show you how!

Contact us today.

Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook

Have you considered Google Apps for your business? Here’s an overview of the transition – very simple, and very cost-effective. Contact us to see how we can help you make the switch!

Push Up the Web

This post is an effort to improve the web. Push Up the Web is a great site that has a simple plugin that checks users’ browsers and recommends they upgrade.

Screen shot 2010-02-23 at 8.29.23 AM.png

Pushup only targets browser versions that are considered to hinder the progression of the web in it’s current state. By doing this users that are not on the latest version won’t be bothered by Pushup until they really need to upgrade.

If we all do this, it will help improve the web across the board. I will be adding it to client sites unless they have objections.

Check it out here: pushuptheweb.com

Tech Tip – Save Your Money on Anti-Virus Tools

Don’t spend money on anti-virus software like Symantec or Norton. Microsoft and many others have free tools that are as good or better, and are less bloatware that bog down your system.

If you have any questions or need help with configuration or installation, contact me.