40Tech

I was recently asked to identify some of the essential WordPress plugins that we use are here at 40Tech. A few years ago, we covered five of them. Amazingly, we’re still using all five. There are other plugins, though, that we also use. While I would prefer a lean WordPress installation, these other plugins bring functionality that is important. With that in mind, here are ten additional plugins that make 40Tech tick.

Almost two years ago, I wrote about the positive experience that I’d had with WooThemes when switching over to the current WordPress theme that powers 40Tech. I implemented several custom changes to the theme we use here, and the WooThemes folks were very helpful as I worked things out. Lately, though, the WooThemes team has taken a step that has given me pause. Specifically, WooThemes is integrating tracking into all of their themes – new or old – so that they can get a better idea of how their customers are using their themes.

Editor’s note: Today, 40Tech is pleased to present you with a guest post from Lazy Man of lazymanandmoney.com.

The second week in February was a very bad week for me. On February 6th, I had received a legal threat from LifeVantage regarding my ProtandimScams.com site. I was still crushed by my beloved Patriots losing the Super Bowl. (Hey, I put up with their 1-15 seasons and Lisa Olsen scandals, so I’m milking the Tom Brady era for all it is worth). On the 8th, my websites stopped working. I went to my Putty window running a Unix top command to see what was the matter. The load average had spiked from its normal level of around 0.50 to 120. If you aren’t familiar with Unix, Top, or Putty, this means that either something on your site isn’t working right or Yahoo decided to feature you on its home page. Here’s what happened next.

Last week, we covered two tools to help you scan your website for malware. Another method to determine if your site has been hacked is to look at changes in your server files themselves. That, though, can be time consuming if you do it manually. If you use WordPress (the self-hosted variety), and you want to use an automated tool that detects changes to files, take File Monitor Plus for a spin.

Yesterday we compared Squarespace and WordPress, and I indicated that as slick as Squarespace was, 40Tech was going to remain on a self-hosted WordPress installation. Bloggers using a self-hosted instance of WordPress, though, need to make sure that their blogs are secure. That includes making sure that your blog isn’t already compromised. How do you do that? The easiest way to do that is to use external tools to scan your site. There are two that we use here at 40Tech, and recommend.

Earlier this month, we took a look at 4 ways to backup your WordPress blog.  That post covered steps you could take to backup your site, including the use of WordPress plugins.  We’re always on the lookout for better ways to get things done, and when it comes to backing up a WordPress blog, we’ve found a gem.  Updraft is a dead simple plugin that will backup the contents of your site to the cloud (such as Amazon S3) or to an FTP server.  You can even have the backup emailed to you.

If you run a website, content may be king, but speed is the cook that keeps the king fed.  Recently, we talked about WhichLoadsFaster, a site that compares loading times of two or more website.  How do you improve your site’s chances of being the site that loads faster?One of the best tools for speeding up sites, and one that we use here at 40Tech, is W3 Total Cache, a caching plugin.  W3 Total Cache not only speeds up your site, but it can also save you bandwidth.

If you have a website or blog, you probably have the same worry that most blog owners share – what would happen if the unthinkable would happen, and all your data would be lost?  Would that be the end of your blog?  You can reduce the risk of disaster if you have a backup plan in place.  Here are a few methods for backing up your site, along with a few pointers as well.

Have you ever gone onto an image-heavy site and marveled at how fast it loads; at how the images just “fade in” as you scroll down the page? Cool, yes? While it may seem, to the average Joe/Josephine, that this nice little bell and or whistle is the result of a fancy and expensive tool created just for big sites like Mashable –  it’s actually just a little jQuery script. It doesn’t take too much to install, either, especially if you have a Wordpress site. In fact, there are at least two plugins for Wordpress that make it extremely simple for you to do too.

If you’re a regular visitor to 40Tech, you’ve probably noticed the new look. The look is largely due to a new theme by WooThemes. A few months ago, the 40Tech team decided that a new look was needed in order to grow the site and to implement some upcoming new features that we had in mind (stay tuned for those). After searching around for a new WordPress theme from numerous sources, all signs kept pointing back to WooThemes. While the beauty of WooThemes’ designs was what sealed the deal, it was the support I ran into after the sale that impressed me the most.