Fixing XML-RPC Disabled Errors After WordPress 3.8.2 Update
Several Desktop blog-editing applications use XML-RPC to allow you to manage your WordPress blog. The one I use is MarsEdit.
XML-RPC functionality has been turned on by default since WordPress 3.5 so after updating to WordPress 3.8.2 I was not expecting MarsEdit to report that XML-RPC services are disabled on this site.
Securing WordPress Login Using HTTP Authentication
Having spent some considerable time and effort cleaning this site after it had been hacked I was determined to make it as secure as I possibly could in an attempt to prevent it happening again.
This is a WordPress site running on an Apache server so one of the numerous measures I implemented was to use HTTP Authentication to password-protect the wp-login.php file.
Resetting MAMP’s MySQL Root User Password
MAMP’s MySQL root user password is set to root by default and changing it is not as straightforward as it perhaps should be.
Previously, I described how to successfully change the root user password providing that you know the current one. If not, this method will not work and a way of re-setting the root user password is required.
Recovering Lost Jetpack Stats in WordPress
Many of you will be familiar with the Jetpack plugin. This site uses Jetpack’s Stats module, previously the WordPress.com Stats plugin, to record and display post and page views.
The Stats module requires a connection to an account at WordPress.com where your self-hosted WordPress site is given a unique ID. This unique ID, associated with the site’s domain name, appeared partly responsible for the apparent recent loss of this site’s views.
Collapsible Sidebar Lists Plugin for WordPress
A previous theme I used for this site incorporated the collapsible sidebar lists I described in this post.
This method requires manually adding PHP and Javascript to the theme’s code. Not particularly practical.
I’ve finally completed a plugin which provides the same functionality, but in a far more efficient and convenient way.
Masking a Username in a WordPress Permalink URL
Like countless other WordPress users I’ve been logging into the installation’s back-end using the admin user I created on day one, albeit with what I considered to be a strong password. But no more.
Having read about the recently publicised botnet that uses the admin user for brute force attacks I thought it was time to beef-up my blog’s back-end security.