How Meltdown and Spectre Attacks affect WordPress

Akshat 4 months ago

New hardware bugs have been reported which affects processors designed by Intel, AMD and ARM. This flaw was reported by Google’s Project Zero and is already being termed as one of the worst CPU bugs ever found.

Named as ‘Meltdown’ and ‘Spectre’, these vulnerabilities allow malicious programs to read data from other programs. These issue affects everyone who uses any modern computing device. You might be a WordPress site owner or a casual browser of websites, this issue can harm you. For example, you have a browser tab accessing a malicious site, this tab can access data from the password manager installed on the browser or cookies from other tabs. Similarly if you have a WordPress site hosted with webhosts that have multiple sites sharing same hardware, your site is susceptible to data theft. This means irrespective of whether you are on shared or managed hosting, you are in equally bad situation.

Am I affected as a Website owner?

As of now, most certainly, you are already affected by the bug. The data theft can include passwords, ssl keys, and other sensitive information.

What should I do as a WordPress site owner?

There are four popular ways of hosting a WordPress site:

Shared Hosting – GoDaddy, Bluehost, SiteGround etc.

On shared hosting, there are many sites running alongside many others in very close proximity on a server. These servers have certain level of protection ensuring the safety of one site from another. This wall between sites is sufficient under normal operation, but can be breached. Since all website instances are running on the same machine, this vulnerability can allow a malicious site to illegally access to data of other sites.

The webhosts in this case are responsible for deploying the patches to the underlying system. You should follow up with your webhosts to ensure that they have a plan for this.

Managed WordPress Hosting – WP Engine, Pantheon, etc

Managed WordPress hosting is traditionally considered a better and more secure option than shared hosting. Most of the popular Managed WordPress Hosting providers host the sites on the big cloud platforms such as AWS, Digital Ocean, Google cloud etc. Managed hosting dramatically reduces the risk of one site being able to afflict another site on the same server, however this case is different as Meltdown and Spectre are hardware bugs. If you are hosted on a dedicated container, multiple containers might be running on same machine. This puts you on same risk as a site hosted on shared hosting.

Many cloud platforms have already fixed their underlying platforms. Some others have also laid out a plan for the same too. The managed webhosts will also need to apply patches to their own systems too.

Cloud Hosting – Digital Ocean, AWS etc

A few of us run our sites by directly renting virtual servers from cloud hosting platforms. These cloud platforms allow multiple customers to share a physical server. The customer can install their own operating system and then manage the entire stack on top of this giving them complete flexibility. However since the underlying server is common, it is possible for a bad actor to exploit this vulnerability.

As mentioned in previous sections, the major cloud services are quickly patching their platforms. However since you are responsible for maintaining your own virtual server, you should update your OS as soon as possible.

Dedicated servers

Hosting of privately owned and maintained server is not a popular option given its complexity and cost. However if you happen to do so, you are at minimal risk from this bug, though we would still advice to keep your OS updated.

Can I know if my site is under attack?

Unfortunately it’s unlikely to know if you are getting attacked. These are hardware bugs that can lead to data theft without leaving any traces in traditional log files. The attack is independent of the operating system, and it does not rely on any software vulnerabilities (wordpress core, plugin/themes). These bugs work on personal computers, mobile devices and in the cloud. Depending on the hosting provider’s infrastructure, it might be possible to steal data from you and your visitors.

How can I fix it?

Sadly there is not much you can do at the moment. This bug affects almost everyone. Operating System vendors have already started rolling out fixes but these are stopgap patches and costs performance. Meltdown patch is supposed to take 5 to 30% toll on CPU performance, whereas Spectre is not likely to be fixed any time soon.

Whom should I contact for help?

Major hosting companies have already started deploying patches. As a site owner check with your hosting provider about the status of their system. Ask them to deploy fixes immediately if they haven’t already. Check with them what these fixes mean to you as an end user. Will it affect the site performance? Will these effects be visible to your end users?

But what are these attacks anyway?

Project Zero revealed the bug as:

We have discovered that CPU data cache timing can be abused to efficiently leak information out of mis-speculated execution, leading to (at worst) arbitrary virtual memory read vulnerabilities across local security boundaries in various contexts.

The above statement summarises the exploits made by Meltdown and Spectre. They are example of side-channel attack.

Currently it’s difficult to predict the damage caused by these bugs. Many major companies like Amazon, Google and AMD have released statements assuring their users their latest software versions are safe. Many other giants like Apple have not commented yet. Watchout this space for more updates.

Hope this clarifies most of your doubts.

What Features the Best WP Security Plugin Must Pose?

Sumit 4 months ago

Best-WP-Security-Plugins

Well with the end of 2017, here I would like to give a treat to all the WordPress users, as I am a digital marketing associate myself and I know how important WordPress is for the overall online marketing and promotions.  In addition to it, I am also concerned regarding the protection of my sites, therefore WordPress security is a must.

 

So what are the ways to protect your WordPress website to remain protected from the outside threats? You can take help from the best WP Security plugin to solve the issues. But first, let’s know what kind of issues can occur on your WordPress website.

 

  • Malware and Hacking –   

 

The malware and hacking are the most famous terms in case of threats of any WordPress site. There are many different types of malware that can ruin your site and thus eliminate them is important. Similarly, the term hacking is also the one that’s really needed to be taken care of.

 

 

  • Web hosting Issues –

 

 

Especially while Migration, the different web hosts can have different policies. So, selecting a good host is important. Web hosts are the one who provides you with storage space and management tools, that’s why there is the need for good hosts. And if not, your site can face difficulties while migrations.        

 

  • Incompatible plugins and themes –   

 

The plugins and themes need to be updated, well maintained and managed. Since they all together make up the website, and if there will be any problem with them you can’t get the desired results.

 

  • Errors and Sudden disasters –                

 

So there are certain errors and sudden disasters as well that can ruin your site anytime. Like sudden malware attacks or the human errors and the server errors etc. They all can give your site as many problems, which can cause problems like site downtime and data loss.

 

So what’s the remedy for all these? Well, the answer will be the features of the best WP security plugin.

best-wp-security-plugin

Here I will describe them all for you, take a look at the features here –

 

  • Daily Automatic Scans –      

 

The most important thing to have in any security plugin is the facility of daily automatic scans. They help to detect the presence of any kind of malware on your site. With the help of daily automatic scans you can easily check the updates in your site and with the regular data scanning, you can detect malware(virus, trojans etc.) if they are present in your site.

 

  • Malware removal –      

 

If there is a way for detecting malware, then there must also be a way for eliminating malware as well. This feature involves the tracking of malware and then eliminating it. The best security plugin is the one that could provide ‘One click malware removal’ technique. If you are able to eliminate all the malware with a single/minimum number of clicks, then that particular plugin will be worth using.

 

  • Harden Site security –

 

Like you, I also believe in ‘Precaution is better than cure’ policy. If you know what might cause threats to your website then you can make necessary steps to avoid it.

Site security can be hardened with the data encryption process. The best plugins have the data encryption feature, which saves the data in an encrypted file whose backup has been taken. In this way, no data threat can occur as it is protected with the help of strong usernames and passwords. All things will be under your control.    

 

So the point is to make it really hard(nearly impossible) for any hacker or malware to enter your site. This can be possible with the site’s security only. Therefore you must choose the best one that could provide you with the hardest site security.

 

  • Updates Tracking and Performing –

 

Okay so who will be tracking the updates that are going to your website. There are some plugins which provide you with this feature with which you can check the plugins, themes and WordPress core when an update is available. Also, you will be able to perform the updates as well. You can easily update the themes, plugins and even the WordPress core with a single click.

 

Managing the user roles is also an important thing in terms of website management. With the help of the best plugins, you can see the user roles easily, and also you can regulate your site efficiently.

 

Talking about the benefits of using the WP security plugins, well there are many. The best ones give you the complete security of your website. Having a complete website security is what protects your site from being hacked. And so your security will be in your hands only.

 

Like this, there will be no problem of organised working. With the help of the best security plugins, you can do whatever you want for your WordPress security. And not only the security but the plugins also provide the overall manipulation facilities for the website.

 

Choosing the right plugin totally depends on you. The features which I have described should be included in a plugin that claims to be the best one. However, you should also keep an eye on the price tag and the trial days as well. Though some of the plugins do not provide the trial, at least you should know the features they provide before installing them.

 

So here was my Blog telling you about the different features of the best plugin for WordPress security. Now it’s your turn to choose the right one for your WordPress site. Some of the examples which involve the above-mentioned features are, BackupBuddy, BlogVault, Wordfence, Bulletproof security and Sucuri security.

 

Thanks for reading my article, hope you have liked it.                                                                                                      

7 Reasons you Need to Know Why BlogVault is the Best WordPress Security Plugin

Sumit 4 months ago

Best-WordPress-Security-Plugins

Security plugins are always essential for the overall security of the site. They act like a wall which do not allow malware and harm your site and its data. Therefore you always need WordPress Security plugins to make your site’s data secure. Before having them, you first must know the different features they provide.

 

If you want to find out these features, you have come to the right place because I am going to tell you everything you need to know about them, right here. The security plugins must have some essential features and according to it, you can choose the best ones for you.

 

Feature 1 – Content Backup   

 

Whatever the work you are doing on your site, you must be able to save it, and go through, whenever you need. Hence content backup becomes very essential. Search for the plugins that could provide the backups in the most secure way possible. Content backup should be the first thing that needs to be present in the plugin.

 

Feature 2 – Site Restore                      

 

The next most important feature is the site restore. It is the complete site management process. With its help, you can not only keep your site safe but also you can restore the site whenever you want to. The best backup plugins will be those that will help you to restore your site with a single click only.

 

Feature 3 – DashBoard Management           

 

The security plugin must also be able to give nice dashboard management as well. The best ones will give you the independent dashboard management. You must be able to access all your data through the dashboard instead of worrying about the data management. All the site’s data should be easily accessible from the dashboard itself.

 

Feature 4 – Multisite Management  

 

It is the management of different sites that are hosted under your domain name, one at a time. In this case, the plugins will backup your entire network in the same place thereby giving you the option of sharing resources.

 

Feature 5 – Backup Type

The best way of making backups that’s available is the Incremental one. It is the backup feature that saves the whole data at a time, and then takes the backup of the changed files only. In this way, whole data is saved taking less time and storage. With incremental backup, one can get to use the best form of taking the backups from the site.

 

Feature 6 – Storage Options

 

Well, a plugin is not completed without a proper storage option available. So whether it is a simple plugin or just a security plugin, independent storage option is a must. With the help of the right storage, you can easily find out the best storage options that can help you to make your work easier.

 

Feature 7 – Backup History

 

How can one forget the backup history feature of the plugin? It’s one of the most important features involved in every backup plugin. Proper backup history is very important and its tracking as well. So that you can keep track of your work. So having a backup history will help you to have the track of all the works you have done before.

 

Note: Click Here to read more features of BlogVault

 

What makes BlogVault perfect for security?

 

Well, the plugins which Blogvault provides do posses features as your WP security plugin. But what makes Blogvault so special. Well, I can tell you these reasons here –   

Blogvault-best-backup-and-restore-plugin

  • Action Oriented – BlogVault offers one-click setup, and zero downtime migration as well. It also performs the complex actions like staging and migration, that’s equally important in the process of moving any site from one domain to another. Or testing the site etc.    

 

  • Threat Protection – You will remain completely safe from the threats like hosting issues, malware/hacks, natural disasters and storage issues as well. You can also change the incompatible plugins for your site’s functionality, and work on the themes that let your site seem unprofessional.   

 

  • Well-Maintenance – Whatever the work you will do, will be in a completely organised way, BlogVault offers quick data processing and tasks performed. The dashboard section is well maintained & quite easy, and there will no problem operating with it.

 

  • Data Backup – Like any other security plugin, it provides data backup. But data backup in such a way that it would not get disturbed in any way.  All types of data can be backed up using the security plugin, and moreover, the plugin must backup the entire data as well.   

 

  • Data Security –  Basically the data security, data availability, proper backup and well maintenance of the data are some general features which are included in every backup plugin. Name any kind of data security, BlogVault is able to provide it.  

 

  • Data Management – This tools also feature illuminating data management process. You can also perform many updates that might be required and can also manage the user roles accordingly. You can edit the files and site as per you want.
  • Automatic Data Backups – This is the best backup option available for you. With Blogvault you can easily perform the automatic backups, and thus make your whole site secure in the best way possible. Automatic backups literally help your site’s data to be kept in the safest way possible. And with BlogVault you can do it with the best site encryption methods.

 

Besides this, the harden site security is the one that’s the speciality of BlogVault.  You will get an absolute site security and a great user experience. As all your data will be in an encrypted form, so there will be no chance for any malware to penetrate into your site and destroy it.

 

Lastly, I would like to say that if you think these features can help you make your site safer, then you must opt for BlogVault as your prime security plugin. I hope that you have liked my article. Thanks for reading it, also share it with your friends as well.       

Advanced Flat Rate Shipping Rules in WooCommerce and How to Set them for your Store

Jayesh 4 months ago

WooCommerce currently offers only one default flat rate shipping method. Practically, having a single shipping method can never solve the issues for you and your customers if you own an online store. Having multiple shipping methods, as per your requirements, can provide your business with an opportunity to grab more customers, by making the shopping and shipping easy for them.

This article will explain the need for advanced methods for shipping, which flat rate shipping features your plugin should have, and how to configure those features to work in your store.

Why Every Online Store needs Advanced Flat Rate Shipping?

If you are an online business owner, you must have to ship products to your customers on daily basis. What if you are willing to give a shipping discount for a certain time period, or to certain users, or on a product only?

If you don’t use any of the Advanced Flat Rate Shipping method plugins, doing it through WooCommerce will become impossible. The right plugin can help you accurately calculate the total shipping charges as per your store’s requirements. So, it makes the things easy for business owners & their buyers.

To maintain your business’s stability and sustain in the ever-changing market, versatility is a must thing. By doing this, you will be able to serve your customers better. With more customization capabilities, your store can provide better and flexible services, just as the buyers want.

If interested in knowing more about why advanced flat rate shipping can help you, check out this video:

                                                 

Which Features to Look for in an Advanced Custom Shipping Plugin?

It is required to have a feature-loaded plugin to boost your e-business’s sell. To help you choose the one, we’ve jotted down the best-advanced custom shipping features, which your plugin should have. If you already know what you need, you can jump to the next section to learn how to set up these shipping rules for your store. The features or rules, your plugin should support are:

Location-based shipping rules

If you are having branches in multiple cities, countries, states, regions or serving some specific locality, your online store should allow your customers to choose the location, from where they are buying. Once they select the location, the shopping page should show the shipping amount, applicable to that area. In case, you are looking to expand your online business, this feature will be needed to integrate into your shop, now or then.

A Good plugin should offer the location-based categorization as per:

-> Country
-> State
-> Postal Code
-> Zone (Which could be custom, As made by the owner)

Product based shipping rules

 

It is impractical to ship an LCD TV and some clothing products at the same price.  You will have to bear severe losses if you’ll ship all products at the same rate. With normal WooCommerce shipping rules, you cannot customize the price as per product or its category, but with an advanced plugin – you can do it. Here are the metrics, which can be used as the basis of categorization:

-> Product Name
-> Product Category
-> Product SKU
-> Product Tags (which could be added to you, to create custom groups of diverse products)

User-Based Shipping Rules

Giving special treatment to your users keeps them engaged. But will you be able to do it with the one-size-fits-all approach? Obviously, no! But when your flat rate shipping method could help you handle it differently, the problem is almost solved. For that, look for the followings before downloading a plugin:

  • User

If there is a shipping rule, which needs to be applied to a particular user, your plugin should allow you do that.

  • User role

The method for applying different shipping charges on the basis of types of user, like merchants, gold card users, platinum card users, new user, normal buyer, etc.

Cart-based shipping rules

The shipping charges heavily depend on the quantity or number of products being shipped. By reducing the shipping charges after the certain amount of products or cost, you can motivate your users to buy a bit more. Hence, look for a plugin which lets you automate the shipping discount as per your buyer’s cart. The criteria could be:

->Cart total(Let’s say, a person is buying products worth $5k, why not give some discount to cherish him?)

– Quantity of products being purchased
       – Weight (In some cases)
       – Coupon (For some campaign or festival offers or sales)
       – Shipping Class – The business owners should be allowed to create their flat rate shipping method based on shipping class like if your customer needs a product urgently (within 24-hour delivery)or he needs it in next 2 days or within a week, the rate may vary.

Schedule-based shipping rules

Sometimes, you want to imply an offer for certain time period. For example, if you are shipping free during Christmas only, your plugin should be capable of implementing it ahead of the time. So, always buy a Plugin, which lets you enable or expire the offers for specific dates.

Check Compatibility and Speed

WooCommerce 3.0 is out already. Make sure that the plugin, you are downloading, is compatible with the latest version of WooCommerce. It will keep your website stay fast, dynamic and user-friendly,

Handling the Comparisons Using Operators with Flat Rate Shipping

To implement all the above-discussed categorization rules, advanced custom shipping depends on the conditional operators, which are:

-> Less than (<=)
-> Greater than (>=)
-> Between(0-10)
– >Not Equal to ( != )

Wondering how your store can have all these features and how to make them work?

Here’s a quick tutorial to help you out with configuring different type of shipping rules and setting up the free shipping method. First, download the Advanced Flat Rate Shipping Plugin and follow the steps along:

Implementing Free Shipping Rules for Your Online Store:

Now questions arrive, why that?

Free shipping motivates your customer to shop more. If it is increasing your sales by 30% and reducing the shipping revenue by 10%, you are still in 20% profit. But changing the price of every product of your online store is highly time-consuming. So, it is always better to do it with a plugin.

How to set up advanced free shipping in WooCommerce?

Once you’ve installed the plugin, you just have to follow the simple steps:

  • Create a rule or method:

  • Let’s say we named the method as ‘Free Shipping’. Set the Shipping Charge to 0.

How to set Conditions for Free Shipping?

You can easily add rules to the free shipping campaign, just by following this step:

  • Scroll a bit and set the shipping rules, when this free shipping method should be applied. Though you can choose any measure of buying to let the users avail free shipping, we are doing it for one ‘shipping zone’ in this demo.

You can add as many rules as you want to add.

How to Create Custom Zones in WooCommerce?

If you are willing to apply some shipping rules to only a few states of your country, or to a few cities, it is simple. You can create custom zones to solve the purpose. Follow the procedure to do it:

  • Navigate to ‘Add Shipping Zones’ in ‘Manage Shipping Zones’ section.

  • Give your zone a name. We’ve added all EU Zone, which forms a group of European Countries.

  • Save the changes and choose the Zone name in later operations to apply rules to your created custom zone. You’ll be able to see this custom zone in the ‘Manage Shipping Zones’ section.

For example: if a business owner wants to apply the shipping charges $50 for EU Zone (as a custom zone), it can be done as shown in the image [below]. After that, create flat rate shipping and set a condition on the custom zone.

Implementing Flat Rate Shipping Charges as per cart subtotal:

There are many occasions when you want to give discounts on big purchases. To show your gratitude towards the customer and make their shopping experience better, it is an ethical thing which can promote your user’s count. To do it, Advanced Flat Rate Shipping comes in handy.

For example, if a business owner wants to apply the shipping charges as a flat rate cost of $5 for a cart subtotal below $100, $2 for a cart subtotal below $250 & free shipping for a cart subtotal above $250, it is possible and easy using WooCommerce plugin for advanced custom shipping. You can set up shipping charges based on customer’s cart subtotal.

How to configure Flat Rate shipping method, based on Cart Subtotal in WooCommerce?

Learn it through the screenshot, we’ve added for you:

  1. In the plugin, click on ‘Shipping Method Configuration’.
  2. Create a method, named ‘Cart subtotal based shipping’. Here, we’ve fixed a rate of $24.
  3. By clicking on ‘Add rules’, you can set a particular cost for your shipping method. In our example, all the orders below $200 will have an added shipping charge of $24. You can add multiple rules, which, when matched, this subtotal-based configuration will work.
  4. Select ‘Save Changes’ to make the setting work.

What to do when more than one shipping methods are applicable to a Purchase Session?

Consider this:

You have a customer, with a platinum card, shopping over $5000 and from location Sweden. You’ve set the rules like:

-> Apply $50 discount on Shipping Charges for Platinum Card User.
-> Over $5000, the flat rate shipping charge is $5.
-> Free Shipping for the Customers in Sweden.

All-in-all, you are trying to confuse the code badly. To handle such situation, eCommerce store owners can change the ‘Master Settings’ of Advanced Flat Rate Shipping method For WooCommerce plugin.

Without needing to write or tweak the code, you can resolve this clash. You can pick among the following options to imply the best method for your buyers:

-> Apply Highest – To apply the highest shipping charges.

-> Force All Shipping Methods – It sums up all the shipping charges, applied on the cart of a particular user.

-> Apply Smallest – Make the buyer pay least shipping charges.

-> Allow Customer Choose – By using this, you are authorizing the user to pick the best offer, applicable to his purchase.

Let’s give you one example to explain how to do this:

How to set highest flat rate shipping in WooCommerce?

Here’s the guide to use ‘apply highest’ flat rate method on your WooCommerce website:

-> Select ‘Manage Shipping Methods’ in the plugin.

-> Now, select Master setting & a dropdown will be open.

-> Choose ‘Apply highest’ from the drop-down.

-> Click on ‘Save Master Settings’.

In a similar way, you can choose ‘force all’, ‘apply minimum’, and other types of flat rate shipping in WooCommerce too.

Timely discounts, free shipping implications, special rules and more – Shipping variation is always required. So, every e-commerce store owner should integrate the advanced custom shipping with its store to enhance the user experience deploy the shipping changes as the shop demands. Download the plugin to do it in the easiest way.

What are Some Best Security Plugins for WordPress?

Sumit 4 months ago

Best WordPress Security Plugins
Best WordPress Security Plugins

Okay so 2017 is saying goodbye and the footprints of the new year are eager to come to our world, let’s welcome this in the internet world as well. This year has been the year of lots of digital marketing and wordpress executions. The best Content marketing System has also been threatened with outsource problems like malware and hacking etc.  But the use of the best plugins helped a lot to get a complete security of the problems and keep your site far from the threats.

So I though why not to make a gorgeous Blog and talk about the best security plugins for WordPress and give them the credit they deserve. So here I will be talking about the best plugins from the security point of view for WordPress. Let’s start now –

WordFence –

So here’s one of the most popular security plugin for wordpress. It is well famous for its malware detection. The best thing is that it completely scans all the files of WordPress, including the WordPress core, plugins and themes as well. If you will use the premium feature, then you can access many more advanced features as well. Also due to the open source nature of the plugin, its very popular between the professional hat use wordpress.  

Key elements of this plugin include –

Two factor authentication – via SMS

Blocks bruteforce malware attacks

Blocks all sort of fake traffic to your wordpress site

Scans the wordpress hosting

Get email notifications for the trackings

Wordfence Security
Wordfence Security   

Bulletproof Security –

As the name suggests, this plugin is for the bulletproof security of your wordpress site. Basically it takes care of various things in addition to your site’s security. In other words, this will be a perfect tool to take care of your website. As usual, the pro version of this tool also is filled with some really advanced features, but the free version isn’t anything less though.

Key features of this plugin include –

Database, login and firewall security

Four click setup interface

Limits failed login attempts

Checks the IP Blocking and code scanners

Bullet proof Security
Bullet proof Security

BlogVault –

If you want a complete WordPress security in a single dashboard, then you must opt for this plugin. You can not only backup your data by using this tool, but you can also perform the security scans and malware detection processes as well. The tools has ace technology support to perform the automatic daily backups, and determine where the malware are in case of any malfunctioning.

Key features of the tool include –

Automatic Backup processes and One click site restoration

Automatic daily scans and one click malware removal

Managing user roles and performing updates

One click staging and migration setup

Zero downtime migration

BlogVault Security
BlogVault Security

 Sucuri Security –

This plugin is of the website security and auditing company Sucuri. The best part of this security plugin is the auditing feature it provides. Due to this feature your site remains protected from the complex problems and hacking attacks. It protects your website from DOS attacks, scanner attacks and other brute-force attacks as well. You can even trace the working of the tool in favour of your site as well. It also has a premium service, for which you need some amount of money to pay.

Key features of this tool includes –

Malware Scanning and detection

File integrity monitoring and blacklist monitoring

Website Firewall monitoring

Safety from Zeroday disclosure patches

Sucuri Security
Sucuri Security

iThemes Security –

It’s also one of the nice wordpress security plugins that is required by many professionals to make their WordPress site secure. With only one click installation, you can stop the automated attacks from the outsource internet world. Even if it is the common security holes in your website, it will be fixed with the use of this plugin. The tool is capable of scanning the entire website, and tries to find if there is any potential threat in it or not. All in all, it’s a complete package for your site’s protection.   

Key features of this tool includes –

Auto Fixes the different common site malfunctioning problems

Malware scanning, Import/Export settings and Password protection

Block unwanted IP address to enter your website

Detects and stops the brute-force attacks

iThemes Security
iThemes Security

Plus Note – Here I am adding a plus note that will tell you about the basic features of an ace Security plugin.

The tools with the best features will surely provide you –

  • Malware detection – 

    The greatest threat for any website is the malware, hacking or any outsource attack from the threatening activities. So the tool that could provide the complete protection form the malware and hacking, can be the your ideal security plugin.

  • Malware Elimination – 

     As beautifully your plugin must be able to detect the malware, as beastily it must also be able to eliminate them as well. So in order to claim the best security plugin for wordpress, the tool must have the malware elimination feature in a proper manner.

  • Data backup –

    Believe it or not, the backup plugin can’t be a complete one with a proper data backup availability. So the plugin must also pose a complete data backup feature to take the backups of all the data that is created by the site. Though I also prefer the use of the plugins with great data availability.

  • Data Restore –

    Along with the data backup, data restoration is also the point where a plugin must be tested for. The best ones are the ones that provide data restore straight from the dashboard. So opt for the ones that could provide you the best data restoring options.

So in all these ways you can perform your overall wordpress security actions using these different forms of security plugins. Though the security plugins I have mentioned here are different from one another, yet there work field is same. But you can rate them according to their performance once you use them.

So in accordance to the features I have described here, you can use the type of plugin that best suits you. Thanks for reading my Blog, hope you’ll find some help in it.         

  

    

     

What Features a Good WordPress WooCommerce Plugin must Provide?

Sumit 4 months ago

Features of a WordPress WooCommerce Plugin
Features of a WordPress WooCommerce Plugin

WooCommerce is one of the most popular free ecommerce wordpress plugins. Because of its easy to use. It has become very popular among the product and website owners. The best part about this tool is that it provides the platform for the shop owners and the website developers both to come and plan their website and launch it among their customers as well.  

In addition to it, you must also understand that running the woocommerce site isn’t any easy task, as a website developer you are going to have lots of responsibilities. What you are going to do is, to make pre-plans before executing the work.  Along with the responsibilities of site creation, you got to protect your site as well. You know the cyber crimes are quite smart now with the help of modern technologies. So as a website owner, or developer, or writer you must have the remedies to protect your site from these issues –

Malware/Hacks –

I think this one’s is the biggest threat for any site in the world. You can see how many different types of virus, malware, spywares are there. They can not only disturb your site, but can also make it a threat for all the viewers who will be opening it. So your site must be properly protected from the hacking and malware tension.

Server crashes –

Creating sites like WooCommerce gives you large site requirements at times. You can’t just depend on the same data you are having for your LIVE production site. If the server crashed, your data will be lost. So it’s a time to have a backup solution for your site. The backup solutions will be the best answer for any kind of problems related to server crashes for the site.

Sudden disasters –

Only server crashes aren’t all, there are problems like battery downtime, electric cut off, system timeout that can irritate you with their unwanted presence. So you got to protect your precious creation from them right! How you will be doing it, is by having a backup for your site.

You might be thinking that though I am talking about backups, but how you will be taking backups is still a secret. Well not now, because I will reveal this secret here itself. With the help of the best WordPress woocommerce backup plugins, you will be able to take a real time backup of your site and its data as well.

Here I will be telling you about the best ways a backup plugin can help you to protect your site –

  1. Data Backup –

Automatic data backup is one of the best features of a good real time backup plugin. You can’t take any chance on your precious creation right! So backing up of data is a compulsory requirement for you to have all your data safely secured. Though there are many different kinds of data backup, like the real time, incremental, versioned. Each and every backup has their own importance, but the real time backup solution acts best especially when you are creating any large site, or require to work on it many a times.  

Real times backups can be a literally good solution for sites like woocommerce. With the use of best plugins, you can have all your backups secured with encryption. I also suggest you to opt for the plugins that provide you the independent access and restore options, as this will prevent you from any kind of problem at times the site is down.

Data Backup
Data Backup

  1. Staging & Migration –

Believe it or not, they are now the most essential parts of a plugin that claims to provide all source of backups to any site. Site creation isn’t any game, it needs lots of processing and testings. And any kind of problem in it can create disturbance and misunderstanding for the viewers/users/customers, resulting the defaming of the site. So a proper testing of the site is a must required term.

With staging feature, you can make use of the site and test it as well. The process of testing your site with the exact clone of it will not only give you a preview of the site’s look, but will also allow you to test it before making it a LIVE production site. You can also edit your site as per your wish. All in all, your site will be totally error-free and complete from all the ways.

Similarly, migrating the sites is required on frequent basis. Though it is seen as a tough task, but the use of proper plugins will really help you out to perform this task easily. BlogVault, BackupBuddy, UpDraftPlus are some of the plugins that are popular for providing easy migration processes.

From these points, I am sure now you have known it at least that having a backup solution is really necessary. Now let’s throw light on the facts that make it important for everyone.

Having Real time WooCommerce backup solution is really very necessary from the following point of view –

  1. It makes your Data Secure –

The very first thing that you will experience by the use of real time backup solution is, the full on data security.  As all of your data will be saved, actually copied, so there will be no problem regarding the data loss. You can sure of your data’s security by using the backup plugins. BlogVault can be a good WordPress woocommerce plugin in this process.

  1. You can Access data anytime –

Though the copied data will be kept in a separate, independent place, you will be able to access it anytime while you are working with the same data. By using the plugins with the automatic backups, you will be able to automatically run the different backup forms, usually used once in every 24 hours, so that your data gets updated on regular basis. It will be really better if you are opting for any plugin with a complete backup solution.

  1. All data will be Encrypted –

It’s the best form of data security, your site’s data will be encrypted, thereby making it really hard for the hackers to crack it. So in this way, your data and your site will be completely safe and secure. Applying real time backups tracks and save the changes to your site as when they happen. And data encryption will add an extra layer of security for your precious site creation.

  1.  Editing and manipulation Ease –

Not only the best plugins ensure the data safety and security, but they also provide you the best platform to edit and manipulate your data wherever you will require it. The editing, saving and deleting options is a must for a site to become completely error-free. So now you got to choose for the backup plugins that could provide you all these features in a single platform.

So here was the blog that told you about the Woocommerce site and need of a proper real time backup solution regarding it. You can use plugins like BlogVault, Updraftplus and many more like this top get all the features I have described here. So, this ends up the Blog for now, I hope you have liked it, please do share it with your friends as well. Thanks for reading.            

    

How Can BlogVault be the Best WordPress Backup Plugin for 2018?

Sumit 4 months ago

BlogVault - Best Backup Plugin 2018
BlogVault – Best BackupPlugin 2018

If you are in Content Marketing, you might have a close attachment with WordPress. After all, this open source, free CMS allows you to manage and post your online papers from a single platform. That’s the reason, why nearly 28.8% of all website use WordPress as CMS and it is the most widely used site for Content Management System by users.

But how will you make the Data completely secure?

Of course,  there’s a huge need of a proper data security plugin in WordPress. I am talking regarding it, as you know what a fine graph of the cyber crimes is there in the internet world. The professional sites are always in the target of the hackers to send malware and destroy the data in the site. And so to prevent these, there is the requirement of the software that could provide you the features to make your data free and safe from these problems.

Best Plugin For Backing Up Your WordPress Websites

Backup plugins are as compulsory as other plugins. Publishers often ignore to install backup to save their online work, as they think it could be easily done humanly. But,  I have seen many people who forget to run a backup at the end of a tiresome day or on a regular basis.

You need to backup your WordPress website data, every time you make a change. The reason is, having a backup of your written work will prevent severe data losses in case of accidental or intentional malfunctioning of the website. In short, backups give you peace of mind.

Some web hosting services also provide the backup feature but you should never count on them. I have heard experiences of people telling their entire blog got deleted by their hosting service providers, including even the backups.  

The best option for you is to opt a backup plugin. They are easy to install and activate on WordPress dashboard. Once installed, they automatically save your everyday work.

One more thing, which you should look for while selecting a backup plugin is, it should be providing full backup, i.e, both website files and database backups. Here I will tell you about one such plugin, thats BlogVault.

BlogVault
BlogVault

How BlogVault can be Helpful for this?

A backup plugin can be really helpful in terms of providing services like –

  • Data backup –

    The most required thing about the data backup is, the data security, more probably the site security. BlogVault provides a complete data security by allowing to perform the automatic backups and also the data restoration as well. BlogVault provides one click data restoration feature, that will save lots of your time and effort as well.

  • Data Security –

     BlogVault features the automatic daily scans that can are the best to detect any malware ifit will occur in your database, from anywhere. There is the one click malware removal system that eliminates all the malware or virus problem in the site.

  • Data management –

    The tools also features illuminating data management process. You can edit the files and site as per you want. You can also perform many updates that may be required by you at times, and can also manage the user roles accordingly.

  • Action Oriented –

    The tool also offers you to perform the complex actions like staging and migration, so that you should not have to spend large hours of your time to complete the process. BlogVault offers one click setup, and zero downtime migration as well.   

  • Threat protection –

    You can be completely safe from the threats like hosting issues, the malware/hacks, human errors, natural disasters, storage issues, server crashes and other site accidents. You can also set the incompatible plugins and themes according to your requirement in the site. They are responsible for the overall site’s functioning.

  • Well maintenance –

    BlogVault offers quick data processing and tasks performance. Whatever the work you will do, will be in a completely organised form. Unlike other plugins, the dashboard will not surround with lots of complexities, you can see it practically as well. Also, you can check for the features provided by this tool, all are in a well maintained format. You will not face any difficulty while working with this tool.

Backup Your Content With BlogVault –

It requires WordPress version 4.0. It first backup the entire website including file and database and then does incremental backups. It is not free, however, it provides 7 days free trial and is cheaper than other alternatives. It works well with larger sites with GBs of data. The best thing is, it saves backups in encrypted form.

WordPress is an open source CMS, which means its source code is open to everyone for collaborative progression/regression. An open software is more vulnerable to data thefts and hacks. That’s why users keep nagging on the security of WordPress.

Using BlogVault for your data backup can help you out to make sure that your data isn’t getting lost in any form. With BlogVault you can not only perform the basic wordpress task, but you can go through the intense tasks like staging and migration as well. It can save lots of your time and effort, also the data handling process run smooth and in an organised manner.   

Security plugins like BlogVault are loaded with wide range of additional features to reduce security lapses. Apart from using security plugins, you should always keep your WordPress installation updated.

So with the help of BlogVault, you can easily get all your data backup and also ensure the complete security of your wordpress site as well.

Disclosure:  

In this way BlogVault can be literally one of the best WordPress Backup plugin for 2018. Now it’s up to you to decide whether you want to use this tool for taking the backup of your wordpress site.

This post is a non commercial organic post. I won’t get any commission if you use or buy any of the above-mentioned tools. The tools I mentioned here are based on the curated experiences of my friends and myself.

Please comment below if you find it an informative piece.

How to Backup a WordPress Blog? – The Best Ways Possible with BlogVault

Sumit 4 months ago

How to Backup WordPress Blogs?
How to Backup WordPress Blogs?

WordPress has been really a very good platform for all the Bloggers and entrepreneurs to showcase their blogs in the most beautiful way possible. With the help of the most attractive plugins and themes one has make a great use of this platform for writing and manipulating their content.

Well along with the creation of the database, I consider the backup of them equally necessary. Backup is the process of copying the data that you are creating, so that it would not get lost in case of any uncertainty like –

  • Data Hacking – The hackers can take your data and misuse them.
  • Server crashes – It can crash due to reasons like overload of data or site downfall.
  • Malware – Any malware can disturb your site and cause problems like data loss.
  • Malfunctioning – Site can malfunction due to incompatible plugins and themes.
  • Additional –  Problems like Natural disasters, battery timeout, electricity problem etc.  

So now there arises a great need to protect your site from all these problems and make it a really good one. For this you can take the help from the best data backup plugins like BlogVault, UpDraftplus, BackupBuddy etc.

To know more about them, read this article –

Best WordPress Backup Plugins 2017 Comparison – Find Out Where BlogVault Stands

 

BlogVault
BlogVault

How is BlogVault helpful in taking the Backup of your Site?

BlogVault offers you this many features to take the backup of your site, which you need to know –

  • It provides Data Backup –

You can easily take the data backup as per your requirement. BlogVault has many features related to the overall data backup of the site that you need for a complete site protection. It offers the automatic daily backups, that can save all the data you edit daily.

The types of backup that Blogvault provides is –

Incremental backup – This one’s is taking the backup of the data that’s edited in the wordpress site on everyday basis. If you have the Incremental backup system ON in your database, the you can easily take the backups on automatic basis, means you don’t need to do it manually.

On demand backups – You can either perform the on demand backups for your database as well. This backup will allow you to specify your content as an external input when starting a backup. In this way you can specify your content each time you opt for this backup type.

Backup validation – Backup validation is the process where the site owners can see the whole process of their data as how it was backed up. This feature is easily provided by BlogVault in order to see the risk of data loss(if there will be any). You can even use the free trial option that BlogVault provides.

  • It provides Data restoring –

Data restoring is yet another feature that is a must for any backup tool to provide for a complete data protection. Data restoring is a process that lets you to access the data anytime you want to use it. Wherever you data will be, you will be able to use it for your WordPress.

The restoring features that BlogVault provides is –

Auto restore – This is the automatic restoration of data, especially helpful in taking the backup at times your server crashes. With BlogVault, you can restore your site with a single click. With this you can easily access your data in the WordPress site everytime you want to.

Data backup also involves a complete data security of the wordpress site and its content you are creating. Realtime automatic backups that you are taking must be malware-free, but as we never what can happen next, so there’s a need to detect the malware in case it occurs.

With Blogvault, you can easily detect the malware and eliminate them as well. Here are the features for it –

Malware Scanning – With the use of features like automatic malware and hacking scanning, one can easily detect the malware if it will be present in the site. With proper site monitoring, you can easily keep an eye on your data and its making as well.

Malware removal – Similarly when you will discover the malware, you can easily eliminate them by using the most advanced technology. Blogvault provide one click malware removal setup, that can easily eliminate all the malware from your site.     

Login Protection – This is for the protection of the overall site and its data as well. The login protection with strong passwords and unique usernames will prevent any hacking attempts to go through your site, resulting in the safety of your site.

Data encryption also comes in this way. By doing this you can simply prevent any unwanted person/user to enter into your site and see your creation. This is a very effective way to prevent your data from any loss and most importantly getting it hacked.   

  • It provides Staging and Migration Set up –

Staging as we all know is an important requirement to check, edit and manipulate the site for any changes that needs to be done. Similarly with the migration as well, as it may be a daunty one to choose but its not at all that complex like people usually think. With BlogVault you can prepare the one click staging setup. Also you can perform one click migration setup as well.

The one click staging and migration setup will be extremely time saving for you. You will also save lots of efforts and confusion problems will not occur as well. Meaning there will be smooth and proper work for you to understand things will much ease.

So in this way Blogvault can help you out on how to backup a WordPress blog. Along with the backup you must also notice the features that are there for the protection of your site/blog. Taking the backup of your WordPress blog will be a really nice step to protect your data from every sort. You may also check out for the other data backup plugins that could provide you the same feature that you are searching for.

So here I end up my article, I hope you have liked it. Thanks for reading.

 

Migrating your Woocommerce Website? Try adopting Google Analytics with AGA Woocommerce plugin to track conversions.

Aditi 4 months ago

There are instances where your website needs a revival in more than designing and UI aspect. A Woocommerce site will need more hosting space and perhaps, a higher bandwidth. In fact, there are plenty of other reasons that compels a migration of your website to a different host. If you are facing any of the issues, even a single one, then you must consider migrating your website.

Why you should consider migrating your website?

a. When you don’t get enough bandwidth to run your Woocommerce website.

b. Not having 24/7*365 customer support to address your concerns. This may lead not only your website but also your business in jeopardy.

c. Frequent downtime will lead you to find a new web host for your Woocommerce site.

The next step is to ensure a smoother migration to a new web host. It is important to avoid migration issues that Migration Guru addresses decently.

Hurdles you might face while migrating:

i. Not knowing how to change the name servers from one host to another during the migration process.

ii. Unable to change the end-points of the web host.

iii. While you may plan to migrate all by yourself, there lies a high possibility of data or website break.

iv. Quick migration without the help of Migrate Guru may raise complexity. The alternative manual process keeps plenty of data at risk.

Amidst all these work, you cannot neglect to address the concerns of Google Analytics. Regardless of your Google Analytics user account, you need to consider analytics. Google Analytics 360 comes pretty handily as you move on with your e-commerce business. You can take your woocommerce data further ahead in Google 360 by streaming your Google Analytics 360 Data into the BigQuery Export

It is advisable to have an Actionable Google Analytics for Woocommerce (AGA Woocommerce Plugin) after migrating your WordPress Woocommerce site. This plugin allows hassle-free, enhanced e-commerce data tracking from your Woocommerce store.
It offers a simple plug-n-play setup that installs in your Woocommerce store. This Woocommerce Plugin will track every possible product data. It uses Universal Analytics that includes enhanced e-commerce and tracking user ID.
Leverage on website migration using MigrateGuru by downloading and installing AGA Woocommerce plugin. This will let you capitalize on migration decision. The AGA Woocommerce Plugin’s script works on WordPress and Woocommerce standards. Enter your Property ID (UA ID) and this plugin will automatically (no need for manual coding) start collecting data from your store. This data will start traversing in your GA property.

The AGA Woocommerce plugin offers advantages when installed on your e-commerce website.

1. AGA Woocommerce plugin offers basic tracking functionalities of Google Analytics. You can get benefits of Google Analytics with AGA Woocommerce plugin even if your website is not GA-  enabled.

2. There are 8 distinctive Enhanced E-commerce reports available with AGA Woocommerce plugin.

3. There are times where a single user may log in to your site with different devices. Data discrepancies and redundancies are bound to occur due to multiple device usages. AGA Woocommerce
The plugin has a dedicated report for each user. It has a list of devices that a user logs in and navigates the website with.

4. Plenty of custom dimension and custom metrics are available in the AGA Woocommerce plugin. This helps in tracking a particular user behavior and interaction. You can define Custom Dimensions like Page Type, User Type, Product Size, and plenty others. It helps you to take better business decisions backed by a proper reporting. For e.g.; you can check product color/size in front of a particular product name with revenue. You can have an idea about which color or size of a product is faring better than the rest.

5. Get hold of your discounts and offers page to analyze the impact of your promotions. Track your woocommerce website conversions with AGA Woocommerce Plugin.

6. The migration process is futile if you cannot take the track the checkout funnels. AGA Woocommerce plugin can track the checkout funnels to identify user checkout behavior. A simple installation of AGA Woocommerce plugin lets you visualize the checkout funnel. You can also identify user drop-out points. Such functionality will let you take actions towards effective conversions.

Make the most out of your E-commerce website migration with the AGA Woocommerce plugin. It is obvious that migration should yield some fruitful results. The Woocommerce plugin will let you take timely decisions that collectively work towards delivering desired results for your website.


Author: Aditi Buch

Author Bio: Aditi heads the marketing & communication at Tatvic and is constantly discovering the power of Google Analytics for a great digital strategy and works towards applying her knowledge for optimizing the same. She prefers reading fiction over non-fiction and with her flair for writing, she blogs on various data analytics topics. Having earned her Master’s in Global Marketing from France, Aditi enjoys studying new culture, new languages and meeting new people

What is the Easiest way to perform a Complete WordPress Security Action for Your Website?

Sumit 4 months ago

WordPress Security Action
WordPress Security Action

Working with WordPress makes a sense of good professionalism, but at the same time it also has lots of responsibilities to take care of. If not, there can be problems regarding site and data management. So, now you know what I am trying to say right!

In addition to it, WordPress security is an in-trend term now. It is associated with the overall protection of the WordPress site you are creating, and thus the safety of the data inherited in it. So there arises the use of something that could make your data completely safe, but safe from what? Here are some of the options –

  • Data hacking – The most prominent danger for your website, hacking of data is related to the deletion, change, locking or any unauthorized manipulation done in your site’s data, either in the content or in the programming, thereby making it unworthy for you to use and thus getting the information illegally.
  • Incompatible plugins/themes – WordPress is all about the themes and plugins. The best way you will be able to use it, is the best way you can create your site. But any problem in the plugins can cause problem in your site as well. Like there can be site downtime, site crash or any other thing like that. Also your site’s functionality will be disturbed as well. So the use of highly compatible plugins is as must.
  • Human errors/Hosting issues – These are the most commonly occurring problems in any wordpress website. The hosting issues can occur anytime in a website. Especially when you are migrating your site or performing staging-like operations in it. There could sufficient source from which you can performing these complex like actions with it.
  • Server crashes/Storage issues – Whatever the reason is, the server crashes are always painful. So you must opt for better choices like backup dat or site clone for avoiding this. Similarly there can be storage issues, especially while creating big sites, as they have lots of data in it.  So either your WordPress must have lots of data space, or you should have a seperate proper arrangement for it.  
  • Accidents/Natural disasters – Here I am not talking about the natural accidents, but the once related to the site maintenance. Also there can be problems like battery shortage, sudden battery down, light off, or any other type. There must be prevention from any such type of problems.

What can be a helpful Answer to this?

A really helpful answer is the use of Data Backup plugins. Thay can provide all the solutions for the problems I have described above. Actually it can be a powerful solution for providing a complete wordpress security for your site. You are thus advised to use the best plugins for wordpress.

In addition to site security of WordPress,the plugin tool should be able to perform these actions preferably –

Improve your WordPress security
Improve your WordPress security

For eliminating any problem, first you gotta know the problem. The plugin must have daily automatic scanning feature. Automatic scanning will let you to regularly check for the site’s functions whether they are working properly or not. And also it checks for any problem that might occur in the site and damage it anyway.

The daily scanning can have many forms, like the quick scan, custom scan and the full scan types are common. Full scan usually is more helpful than the custom scan and the quick scan types, as it checks for all the areas of the site and its functions. So you can opt for this scan on regular basis.

Though this is to note that the scan time duration totally depends on the amount of data present in the site. So larger will the site, more will the scanning time duration.

  • Malware Removal –

So with the daily scanning you can easily find out any kind of malware that may be existing in your site. And once you will catch it, the following step will be the elimination of them. Search for the plugins that could provide you the best options for eliminating malware from your site. The best ones will be those with one-click malware removal technique.

There can be options like ‘Auto cleaning’, that could itself perform the actions to remove the malicious codes, virus or trojans that can harm your website and do damages like data loss, and dat lock etc.

Your plugin must also be able to give you alerts regarding the hacked files or notifications for it. BackupBuddy, BlogVault, Updraftplus are some of the best plugins that can provide you the malware removal options.

  • Awesome Site Security –

When you work in WordPress, you site is everything that need to protect. So the plugin need to have proper site security options for you. As they allow to harden the security walls for any hacker to get your confidential information details. The plugin must be able to detect the most complex hacks as well, and thus have awesome site security.

The plugins can clean your site of malware, clean the hacked files and notify you about the whole process as well. You must also be able to scan the site wherever you want, and the plugins must also have other important site security features as well.

Along with the site security, the navigation ability of the site must be good as well. The dashboard should be completely functional, also the backup features must be vibrant. So that you can save your data and use it anytime. The best part of this is, that you can access your data anytime from the plugins directly. Your site will be completely secure and safe.

So here I described about the easiest way to perform a complete WordPress security action for your website. Now it’s your choice to know the best plugins that could provide you all these features and help your site to give a worthy protection, the one that your creation deserves.

I hope you have liked my Blog, please share it with your friends as well.