Over one weekend I went from getting one or two login attempts, every week or so, to over a thousand in two days. The hackers didn’t get in, but it’s still alarming. (I ran a free scan of my site over at sucuri.net and also with the new plugin, WordFence Security, just to be sure my site is still secure.) If you don’t know much about WordPress security yet, read my post on WordPress Security for Beginners.

I haven’t been able to find a reason for the sudden increase in attempts; it’s probably just bad luck. But my research led me to install a third security plugin, Wordfence. (If you install too many security plugins, they can interfere with each other, but for now this seems to be a good trio.) I now how JetPack (it has a security part), Sucuri Security, and WordFence Security – all free plugins – intalled and activated.

I had already taken care of the basics, my username is not “admin” or “administrator.” But my username did have my url as part of a longer username, and with WordFence I could see that the hackers have tried using my url as my username. It was making me nervous….

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I find that changing the color schemes of my different sites, High School College Success!, E.S. Ivy, and Mom Behind the Curtain, and having a another color for my test sites, helps keep me from getting confused. (Notice I said “helps.” Let’s face it. WordPress development is confusing, even the famous “Five-minute install” that’s only five minutes if you’re already a trained software developer. End of rant.)

How to change your WordPress dashboard colors

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When I first started writing tutorials I tried to make images for each, and every, click.

It.

Was.

Extremely.

Slow.

I could make videos. But I prefer using written tutorials myself and I refer back to my own tutorials. Also, webpages and user interfaces often change over time, even though the commands and command sequences you use might stay the same.

So that the writing the tutorials will only take hours – instead of hours and hours – I came up with a shorthand to record my directions; it’s the same shorthand I use for myself in my own notes. Since you don’t live inside my head, I decided I better explain myself….

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When you update to WordPress 4.3 you now have the ability to add icons, or favicons to your site without a plugin or uploading files. These will show up in your browser on the tab, as well as places like Pinterest Rich Pins.

I go through how to add you icon in WordPress 4.3 step by step below….

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