Force SSL logins to WordPress Admin

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Simon Morley

Here’s a quick tip to force SSL (encrypted) logins to the WordPress admin pages. We use a few techniques, including this one, to ensure we don’t wake up one morning to find someone’s hacked any of our hosted WP sites…

Find and edit the wp-config.php file (usually in the root of your WP folder). Add the following lines:

define('FORCE_SSL_LOGIN', true);

define('FORCE_SSL_ADMIN', true);

Restart your webserver and off you go. Just make sure you’ve got your SSL virtual hosts and a certificate set up first. We don’t tend to bother with properly signed certificates as self-signed ones do just fine for non-public facing sites.

There’s a few plugins available to do the same but we usually keep the number of plugins enabled to a minimum as they can slow down your server. Editing a bit of code’s not too hard is it??

What am I working on now

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Simon Morley

Other than the standard PolkaSpots Supafly Wi-Fi jobs, I seem to be immersed in a number of reasonably exciting design projects right now.

Can’t complain either, it’s always a pleasure working on something creative not just writing code.

Current Websites Include:

Wild Swans – London based Scandinavian Fashion Retailer

Wild Swans – the UK’s leading Scandinavian fashion store. I’ve been tasked to modernise their existing site and integrate with a high-end commercial shopping cart.

Created a custom WordPress integration so the owners can quickly edit pages without having to faff with html or code. Good lesson in php, custom widgets etc.
Importing the blog from blogger ensuring pages titles etc. are preserved.
Setting up a monthly newsletter campaign using our spanking new system.
Integrating with commercial shopping cart.

Go live’s due at the end of the month.

Once Was England – In Memory of a Vanished Land

Once Was England – a highly regarded lifestyle blog covering all things from a vanished land. The site’s being moved to a WordPress blog and a sub-site created around the popular page, previously held on Tumblr.com

Another custom WordPress integration designed to mimic the existing simple style. Once Was England has grown up and a larger site is now required.
Importing the blogs, images and comments from Tumblr to WordPress – no easy task…
Setting up an online shop from where OWE will sell fine English wares.

Go live’s set for this week…fingers crossed.

PolkaSpots Supafly Wi-Fi – The UK’s Leading Wi-Fi Hotspot Company

Ok, a bit of a cheat this one but still important… I’ve just redone the existing site moving it from our previous CMS (Business Catalyst) into yet another WordPress blog.

Live 11th Jan 2011. Check it out here…

Other stuff:

Getting back on the bike after breaking my foot in November 2010. Got to lose some Christmas pounds.
Organising my 30th birthday which looms closer everyday.
Lusting after bike porn and spending too much time reading bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com
Enjoying the Boris Bikes
Missing my cat who ran away on Friday…

Use the tools and publish everyday.

Posted on July 24, 2010 by Simon Morley

I wrote this blog from a garden centre, somewhere in Shropshire on Wednesday afternoon. I’m killing a few minutes between a site visit and a 250km drive back to West London. The perfect place to write a blog – no distractions, coffee and some ice cream

These days, my time is always limited. In the office, I’m constantly bombarded by questions, emails and phone calls. Everyone needs some space to write something interesting.

Amazingly, I’m not always near an Internet connection despite being the proud owner of polkaspots.com! And yet, I publish a blog everyday…

By using all the tools you have, you can easily write half a dozen blogs in one go and then publish them automatically over a week or more. New blogging software does this at the click of a button.

This means your readers still get their daily digest despite the fact that you’re half-way up a mountain or on a beach. It also means you can relax a bit more.

It also means, you can come back and check your blog before it goes out for typos. If you feel like writing, sit down and write.

Wordpress makes it simple to publish your blogs in advance

Pyjamas that you could wear to dinner

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Simon Morley

You’ll start to realise soon that my first bit of advice is always: relax and enjoy blogging (replace with most words). Don’t force anything – if you do, your blogs will fail.

The same goes when you’re choosing your blogging software. Pick the one that suits your needs best and don’t obsess over it – just start writing! I write two blogs: the first for PolkaSpots Supafly Wi-Fi which is hosted by the excellent PolkaSpots Content Managment System (CMS) and the second using WordPress.

But why not the PolkaSpots CMS for everything? Shouldn’t I say this is my favourite blogging platform? I own the company and I don’t think it’s as good as WordPress!! It stands out when used as part of a suite of other tools: email marketing, online shop, forum, analytics, website, CMS. I wouldn’t use anything else for a business website.

WordPress is where it’s at for me when it comes to blogging. Unbelievably customisable, easy to use, manageable with all the plugins and themes you could ever imagine. But, best of all, it’s easy to use to write your posts.

It doesn’t matter what you use. Just find something that you like, or ask a friend.

Simon Morley

I like cats, my plants and the Internets. I can't be bothered to make this blog pretty. I write code. What do you do?

Tag Archives: Wordpress

What am I working on now

Use the tools and publish everyday.

Pyjamas that you could wear to dinner