In the video above I demonstrate how to close a WordPress blog to the public and make it available only to members who have a username and password created for them by the blog administrator. The site I demonstrate has 49,500 members that I created and bulk uploaded in about an hour. I show the plugin I used for the bulk upload of users. I’ll create a follow-up video in a week or so demonstrating how I used Excel to create those users from a file with nothing but first and last names. If you have need for a private blog/website to share with a few people or tens of thousands of people, this should help get you started.

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WordPress 3.3.1 is now available. This maintenance release fixes 15 issues with WordPress 3.3, as well as a fix for a cross-site scripting vulnerability that affected version 3.3. Upgrade now, but if you are not extremely tech-savvy, then view this first!

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In the video above I demonstrate how to do some basic editing on the default WordPress themes (Twentyten and Twentyeleven) to reduce the header size and remove some of the items that, in my opinion, take up way too much space in the header. In the process, I show the basics of setting up a child theme and provide a glimpse into how I use local copies of WordPress running on my computer to make theme editing a lot quicker and simpler. I also demonstrate how to preview changes in Firebug and then copy those changes into your theme css file. This tutorial is intended for non-techies…if you are an expert, then this isn’t for you. Enjoy!

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In the video below I demonstrate how to take a full backup of your WordPress blog before upgrading so that you will have everything you need just in case the upgrade breaks your site and you need to get back to where you were. One of the biggest mistakes people make when upgrading their site is to just trust that everything will go well and fail to make a good backup. Don’t be a victim…you may make a hundred backups you never need, but one day you will need one.

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If you don’t currently have your WordPress blog configured to render on mobile devi ces, then watch this video for directions on using the WPTouch plugin. In only a few minutes you have configure your blog to render very nicely on a variety of smartphones.

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I haven’t tried the plugin below yet, but it looks pretty promising for those brave individuals looking to put together their own personal computing platform and get off the outdated, clumsy, LMS’s. About the only things people use an LMS, like Blackboard, Moodle, Sakai, etc., for is a document repository, gradebook, discussion board, electronic assignments, and maybe quizzes/exams. With just a little work, you can create your own learning platform in WordPress that will beat any LMS out there.

Features

1. Easy to use and simple
2. Students access all their grades from one site including grades from previous terms
3. Faculty can manage their grades from one site
4. Faculty can notify students of new grades through a customizable email message
5. SSL enabled – all information is transmitted securely
6. No personal information is stored. Grades are indexed and accessed based on the Temple email address of the student.
7. Manage all your grades on your computer using the convenience of Excel and then when you are ready to distribute, make the grades available to students in a few easy steps.
8. An integrated course administration page provides a simple gateway for viewing, managing, uploading, and email.
9. The plugin is automatically enabled for use in multi-site / network implementations of WordPress
10. LDAP enabled, all users are authenticated using your local LDAP credentials

Download here: http://community.mis.temple.edu/plugins/community-gradebook/

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Note: The following is made available under GPL from http://codex.wordpress.org/GPL. It may be edited a little from its original form, but probably not a lot. There is no guarantee this information is accurate…use at your own risk.
—————————————————–

To get information about your server, you can use the PHP Info function:

• Type the code shown below into a text file

• Save as info.php
• Upload to server. Visit in your browser (www.example.com/info.php)

That will give you info about your php version, mod_rewrite, and lots of other server “stuff”.

The info.php file returns a page outlining the details of your PHP installation.

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Outline of my presentations at WordCamp Louisville:

WP  Basic Installation and Setup:

• Install in subdirectory
• Install in root
• Install multiple copies
  • Using single database
  • Using different databases
  • Mention setting up a networking
• Install local copy for offline testing/development

Moving WP From One Host to Another:

• Move WP maintaining same url
• Move WP changing the url
• Move WP subdirectory to root & vice-versa
• Copy WP from hosting account to local computer

Tools used in presentations:

WinSCP: A simple ftp client I use in conjunction with hosting control panels such as Cpanel.

http://winscp.net/eng/index.php

Notepad++: A free source code editor.

http://notepad-plus-plus.org

XAMPP Apache Web Server: An excellent choice for easily installing a local copy of WordPress on your computer.

http://www.apachefriends.org/en/xampp.html

Search & Replace Script: A php script from Spectacu.la that allows you to search & replace values in your WordPress database. Great for changing the web address on your blog during a move.

http://spectacu.la/search-and-replace-for-wordpress-databases

BigDump staggered MySql import script: Great tool from Alexey Ozerov that allows you to import very large databases that you may not be able to import using tools like phpMyAdmin.

http://www.ozerov.de/bigdump.php

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Moodle released the following security vulnerability notice today following the irresponsible notification process they have used for years now that puts your moodle site at risk. Moodle.org touts the fact that they have over 1 million registered users however, this notice didn’t go out to them. Surely the devs are smart enough to at least send an email to the million email addresses they have in their moodle.org database?

If you visit moodle.org today, you see nothing about this security issue — the homepage looks the same today as it did yesterday…not even a simple line of text letting visitors know, “oh, by the way, there is a slight issue and you need to upgrade!” Of course, you see new moodle partner ads every time you refresh the page–says a lot about their priorities…your security vs their business interest.

This notice went to 72,000 select email addresses who signed up to receive advanced notification of security issues; however, there is no verification of the identity of anyone on that list…Moodle devs have no way of knowing how many would-be hackers are signed up on that advanced notification list. To think there are none is naive, irresponsible, and puts your moodle data at risk.

The last paragraph in the notice pasted below should be particularly troubling to any moodle user who is the slightest bit concerned about the security of their moodle site.

All the details have already been published (it was not possible to give Moodle admins advance warning this time due to constraints from external development teams we coordinated with),

Here is what we know.

1. Virtually every moodle site in existence is vulnerable this morning from these security vulnerabilities.
2. The details of these vulnerabilities are known and are published on the web–if you know how to find them.
3. Any hacker on that unverified advanced notice email list received an email this morning essentially telling them how to hack your site.

And here is one assumption:

1. You didn’t know about this until you read it here and your site is still vulnerable.

Moodle Security — The definition of an Oxymoron

————————–

I’m writing today to let you know that Moodle 1.9.10 is available via the usual open download channels (http://download.moodle.org, CVS or Git).

The release notes are here:

* http://docs.moodle.org/en/Moodle_1.9.10_release_notes

These are the security issues that 1.9.10 will fix for you:

* MSA-10-0017 XSS vulnerability in YUI 2.4.0 through YUI 2.8.1

* MSA-10-0016 Multiple phpCAS library vulnerabilities

* MSA-10-0015 Customised HTML Purifier upgraded to 4.2.0

And also note this issue with the optional MySQL module:

* MSA-10-0014 Customised phpMyAdmin upgraded to 2.11.11

You can find full details of all these here:

* http://moodle.org/security

All the details have already been published (it was not possible to give Moodle admins advance warning this time due to constraints from external development teams we coordinated with), so please update your sites as soon as possible to remove any risk of them being attacked using these known vulnerabilities.

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The first WordCamp Louisville will be held on Saturday, December 4th. Can’t beat the price at $20 a ticket. I’ll be there and may even conduct a session or two. If you’re in the local area and are interested in WP, then it may be a good way to spend a Saturday.

http://www.wordcamplouisville.org/

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