Mindspring Design | South Jersey Website Design & Graphic Design Blog » blog http://mindspringdesign.com/blog Wesite Design & Graphics Advice for South Jersey Small Businesses Sun, 18 Dec 2011 23:19:40 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 A Hijacked Blog and a Happy Ending http://mindspringdesign.com/blog/305/ http://mindspringdesign.com/blog/305/#comments Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:41:57 +0000 admin http://mindspringdesign.com/blog/?p=305 Check out this note I received from one of my readers. Someone hijacked this business owner’s blog — someone created his own administrative user identity and took control of the blog. (The IP address and some names have been withheld.) I finally removed the bogus administrator from my blog database.  I kept calling {Web Hosting [...]
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Check out this note I received from one of my readers. Someone hijacked this business owner’s blog — someone created his own administrative user identity and took control of the blog. (The IP address and some names have been withheld.)

I finally removed the bogus administrator from my blog database.  I kept calling {Web Hosting Provider Name Withheld} because I finally realized the techies didn’t really understand what was going on. This has happened to me before. You have to keep calling to get someone who knows what the heck is going on.

First a tech told me that the WordPress application wasn’t supported and to contact WordPress.  Next, one actually had me believe the WordPress database was on the WordPress server.  His voice was calm, authoritative and so believable.  Then I thought to myself a few minutes later “hey, that’s not true”.

Finally after vacation, I got a tech guy who told me the IP address, name and password to my WordPress database. He warned me that I could totally damage my database with this information. I thank him and said it if did too much damage, I would delete the whole thing and start all over.

It’s a good thing I have command line skills:)

I did a:

ssh 000.000.00.00 -l wp_0058p_0

mysql>DELETE wp_user from wp_users WHERE display_name ='Blog_Hijacker';

A happy ending:)

This reader handled the situation very well. No thanks to his web host. And as an avid reader of his blog, I noticed he never skipped a post.

Aside from security issues, there are a few things to take away here… If you are a non-technical person, don’t despair. Some “technical” people have no clue either. So make sure you are with a host that is knowledgeable and helpful. Don’t settle for mediocre service, and be persistent.

Another thing is — it does pay to educate yourself a bit. Just a few lines of code solved this issue.

Also, I believe it’s better to install and set up your own blog, don’t go through software applications offered through your web host. Ask your web designer to download and install WordPress on your server. Then you will have more control, style and functionality with your blog. And if anything goes wrong, your designer will know exactly where your database is located, and who or what to delete!

As a business owner, you are in control. With knowledge, persistence, and good help, your blog will never skip a beat.

]]> http://mindspringdesign.com/blog/305/feed/ 2 Think Twitter is for the Birds? Think Again! http://mindspringdesign.com/blog/think-twitter-is-for-the-birds-think-again/ http://mindspringdesign.com/blog/think-twitter-is-for-the-birds-think-again/#comments Mon, 27 Apr 2009 12:38:45 +0000 admin http://mindspringdesign.com/blog/?p=222 Many small businesses are using social media (like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs) to drive sales. One firm has their sales targeted to reach $1 million this year. Here are a few excerpts: Two-thirds of all online users visit social networks and blogs, according to data from Nielsen Online. There’s no better reference than your friends [...]
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Many small businesses are using social media (like Facebook, Twitter, and blogs) to drive sales. One firm has their sales targeted to reach $1 million this year.

Here are a few excerpts:

Two-thirds of all online users visit social networks and blogs, according to data from Nielsen Online.

There’s no better reference than your friends telling you about something. It’s that exact interaction that happens on Facebook

Read the entire article here.

Mindspring Design can help you to establish and design your blog, and link your website to Twitter and Facebook accounts.

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