The entire process of zero filling the drive took a whopping 11 hours to complete. That is with an older computer as well. I am not sure if a speedier computer would have helped in this situation or not.

11 hours is a long time if you ask me. Sure you can still use your computer to do other things, but man that is excessive to say the least.

I am glad it wasn’t a 2 TB / 2000 GB drive because that would have taken nearly 22 hours to complete. Yikes!

The pros tell you that you should zero fill your hard drive 5-7 times to be sure your data is not recoverable by any software tools, but screw that I am not wasting 55-77 hours to zero fill my drive. That is just plain nuts. Maybe if I had another computer that I could leave running just for that purpose alone, but otherwise no way, not going to happen.

So if you are wondering how long it takes to zero fill a hard drive now you know. Of course there are other factors involved, such as the USB port speeds, the drive speed, if it can be plugged in internally or not, etc.

At any rate it is going to take a while, and that is taking a 1 TB / 1000 GB drive into consideration. There are a lot bigger drives that are becoming the norm now.

By the way, the program I used was Disk Genius. If you use it be aware that you can totally mess up your hard drive or external drive if you don’t know what you are doing. It’s not something you should be using if you don’t know what it does.

It comes in a free and various paid versions. The free version does more than what I need to do, and it certainly allows you to zero fill a hard drive.

Give it a try if you are brave enough, and know what you are doing.

I did some searching for time required to zero fill. Search for yourself and you get various times.

What I quoted is based on my real experience. Not fictitious times or guesses.

Computer used:
AMD dual core 2.7 GHz
4 GBs ram
USB 2.0 ports
SATA to USB cable

External WD Blue 2.5 inch 5400 RPM 1 TB / 1000 GB Hard drive pulled from a laptop computer using the above stated cable.

Total time to Zero Fill: 11 hours.

Plus a little extra prep time and to finalize it with a NTFS quick format.

Another nifty feature to the free Disk Genius is you can zero fill unused free space.

Say you deleted a bunch of important files and folders, you can zero fill the unused space to make these deleted files unrecoverable.

The only drawback is that will do all your free space and if you have a lot it can take a long time to finish the job. In which case, you might be better off with a file/folder shredder like Eraser.

The post How long does it take to zero fill a 1 TB / 1000 GB hard drive? first appeared on DialMe.com | Webmaster Tips and Resources.

I have found and used some pretty decent free themes that rival a paid premium theme. Some free bees turn out to be just as good or better for that matter.

These same people seem to be OK with free plugins though. I don’t see them purchasing 30+ premium plugins. Maybe a couple, but not 30+.

Personally I prefer free themes. I just hate dropping $50-$200+ on one to find out I don’t like it so well after all a short time later.

I am not against paid premium themes I just prefer starting with a free one if possible before dropping too much money into a website project.

I have actually used some pretty decent free themes that could easily have been paid premium. That is they were so nicely designed with a lot of extra features that the developer could have easily charged for it.

I guess that is how they attract people to there premium themes though. They give some away for free in hopes that you will also buy or upgrade to their premium theme.

Same with plugin developers they do the same thing to some extent. Not all of them, but some of them.

But, what it comes down to is whatever works for you. If you absolutely want to need a paid premium theme, then go for it. If you can live with, or want to save a few dollars go with a free theme. There is no right or wrong when it comes to WordPress themes.

Just don’t go out and buy one because some website told you that you absolutely need to use a specific paid premium theme. They are most likely just trying to make a few bucks off an affiliate commission.

I would rather someone purchase a specific theme because they really like it. Rather than because someone told you to do so just so they can make some money off you.

All themes are not created equal. Even when comparing free to premium. People will tell you that you get what you pay for, but that’s not always the case. There are plenty of really great free themes out there. And, plenty of paid premium ones too. You just have to look around and do some searching. It’s not that difficult to find the good ones.

The post Are Free WordPress Themes Really That Bad? first appeared on DialMe.com | Webmaster Tips and Resources.

Every time there is an update of course you get all the plugin and themes that need updating to go along with one. I swear it’s a lot of work to keep up with all the updates. Not to mention the plugin and theme updates between a WordPress updated.

He’s kind of strange because he will put out several updates over the course of a week or two, then nothing for a month or two.

I just get tired of constantly updating WordPress, plugins, or themes on such a regular basis. I know newer versions of WordPress will automatically update itself, but as far as I am aware plugins and themes do not.

So even if your WordPress automatically updates itself, you are still almost guaranteed to have plugins and themes that need updating. Especially after a major WordPress update.

And if it’s not WordPress it’s your computer, laptop, tablet, phone, etc. It’s never ending and so frequent now it just ticks me off that we need non-stop updates all the time.

Some plugin and theme developers seem to go on an updating binge or something for some reason. For example, I love Yoast Seo, but man that guy can put out some frequent updates.

I think Google Chrome started all of this with their announcement of a rapid release schedule. After that, it seems like everyone else has followed them for some reason because, you know Google is always right and never wrong.

Maybe some of you like all the updates, but it does waste a lot of time as far as I am concerned. It’s not instant. It takes a while to download an update and more time to install the thing. Take that times 10, 20, 30, or more and it’s easy to see that it’s time-consuming.

Like I said maybe it’s just me, or that I am getting older and not so tuned into all this technology and updates like I used to be 20+ years ago.

Shoot Microsoft Windows Home version doesn’t even let you have any control over what gets installed anymore. They just force whatever they want on your computer without your consent. Well they do get your consent legally, but otherwise you couldn’t even use Windows without agreeing to their complex disclaimer, privacy, etc. statements.

So what do you do? Live with it, or don’t use it right? I know quit complaining I don’t have to use it. But, it just irks me more often than not these days.

If all the updates were more along the lines of instant maybe it wouldn’t bother me so much. Nah probably not! It would probably still tick me off to the extreme.

The post Is WordPress Putting Out New Versions Faster? first appeared on DialMe.com | Webmaster Tips and Resources.

This isn’t necessarily true. Obviously it could be. Anything is possible. But, so is a freshly updated, or brand new plugin. They could be just as vulnerable. Just because it’s new, or just updated doesn’t necessarily make it secure. Maybe it is, and maybe it isn’t.

What it should imply is more like 2 years or more have gone by since the developer updated it maybe they gave up or abandoned it.

When you get up into 3-5 years since it was last updated there is a good chance the developer stopped updating it forever. Not always, but the more time since the last update the more likely this is the case.

Unfortunately there isn’t a good system in WordPress of letting you know that a plugin hasn’t been updated in a long time. You have to either go to the plugin page in the WordPress repository. Or, your plugins in the WordPress admin dashboard. (Plugins -> More Info …)

I am not concerned so much with the amount of time and security issues. I am more so concerned with if they happened to abandon the plugin entirely.

It kind of bums me out when a developer gives up, calls it quits, and stops updating. Not that I blame them. It is a ton of work updating a plugin on a regular basis just so everyone in the entire world can use it for free.

Unless the developer has a free limited version and a more full featured paid premium version I definitely don’t see how someone wants to keep developing and updating for the heck of it.

I don’t have time to update a plugin or theme for that matter for free. I know WordPress prides itself on all the free plugins and themes, which is great for them. Not so great for the developer.

I have a few plugins I submitted to WordPress that are in the repository available for free download. However, I don’t have a clue how long I will be able to keep developing and updating them. Especially since I don’t have paid premium versions available.

Mine were created more for fun and to see if I could actually get a plugin in the WordPress repository. I have read articles where people said they couldn’t get their plugin into the repository no matter what they did.

I wanted to see how difficult it was and how the process of submitting one worked overall. All three of my plugins were accepted the first time I submitted. Each within 24 hours or less time too.

So, I kind of get the impression that a lot of people do not read all the details and instructions for submitting a plugin or theme. If they would take the time to read these maybe they would get theirs accepted in a timely manner.

It could be a lot of different reasons actually though. Maybe it just didn’t meet quality expectations or something along those lines.

Maybe there was a security issue identified, although I kind of doubt it.

At any rate don’t assume a plugin is susceptible to a security exploit or issue just because it hasn’t been updated in 2 or more years.

The post WordPress Plugins Not Updated In 2+ Years first appeared on DialMe.com | Webmaster Tips and Resources.

You can’t use ftp or a simple online file up-loader. It is all done through subversion. Which, also means you will probably need a subversion client like TortoiseSVN.

Once you have done it a few times and get used to subversion it’s not that difficult. However, if you don’t use it on a regular basis it’s easy to forget how to use it again.

You may find yourself looking up “How to use subversion with WordPress.” or similar if you forget.

If you frequently update your plugin or theme you are more likely to remember how to use it. But, most likely, you won’t be updating your plugin or theme on a daily or weekly basis. Months may go by before you want to upload another update, which is just enough time to forget how to use subversion again. Kind of a bummer, but that’s the way it is.

Sometimes I wish WordPress provided an easier way to upload plugin and theme files, and other times I tell myself subversion isn’t that difficult either. Especially if you are just uploading a new version.

So, if you think you will be able to simply upload via an online up-loader or ftp think again because it’s not quite that simple.

There are obviously a lot of tutorials or how to’s out there for just this, but they range in quality. Some cause more confusion than providing help. Others, leave out a lot and leave you guessing to what they are referring to.

One of the best tutorial/how to’s I have found, and find myself using over and over again is by WPMudev It’s titled: Using Subversion with the WordPress Plugin Directory.

It’s a little old and out of date, but just slightly. You should be able to figure out the differences since the time it was written and today’s date.

Definitely bookmark it, add it to your favorites, or better yet save it to your computer for future reference if you plan on developing WordPress plugins or themes.

It’s definitely an asset that I couldn’t live without. Each time I find myself reviewing this. it becomes easier and easier because I have used it so many times now.

There are probably other really good ones out there as well, but this has been the best one for me for a very long time now.

There are a lot of poorly written tutorials/how to’s out there as well so beware.

For some people figuring out subversion is more difficult than writing the actual plugin or theme code itself.

The post WordPress Plugins, Themes, and Subversion first appeared on DialMe.com | Webmaster Tips and Resources.

I don’t really keep a physical list, but there are definitely plugins I need and that I couldn’t live without. It would certainly make things much more difficult without them.

As for rating them or ordering them by importance I don’t really get into that kind of thing. More so just a generalized list of plugins I keep in my head.

That list has changed slightly over the years and since I started using WordPress.

I do have two WordPress websites that I actively update, and the plugins on each are similar, but with some variation. I would like to change a few, but rather than risk breaking something in the process I stick to with what I have for the most part. Certainly the ones that have tons of fields to configure like seo and cache plugins.

The first one is Yoast SEO. This is a great SEO plugin with tons of features. Almost too many because it has become difficult to keep up with all the different settings available in it.

I use All In One SEO Pack along with Google XML Sitemaps on my other website. Which is pretty decent too, but I would pick Yoast SEO if I were to do it again. Yoast SEO includes a sitemap feature so Google XML Sitemaps isn’t necessary.

Yoast SEO is supposed to have an automatic update feature if you want to switch between All In One SEO Pack and Yoast SEO. I am just afraid something will get screwed up or break in the process so I leave All In One SEO Pack on the other website.

It’s kind of one of those if it ain’t broken don’t fix it scenarios.

The only drawback is, if you want to call it a drawback, to Yoast SEO is the guy updates the darn thing extremely often. I swear I am constantly needing to update this plugin whenever I login to my WordPress Administration. It can be extremely annoying. At least to me it is.

The second one is W3 Total Cache. This is another plugin with tons of settings to configure. Thankfully I only need a small portion of what’s included.

W3 Total Cache if configured right does an exceptional job at caching and making your website load faster.

The drawback is there is just too much to configure, which could be overwhelming for someone new to W3 Total Cache.

Third is Easy Digital Downloads. This is an excellent plugin for selling digital goods on your website. There is quite a bit to setup and configure, but not as much, and not as confusing as Yoast SEO or W3 Total Cache.

Fourth is AntiSpam Bee. This is an excellent comment spam protection plugin similar to Askimet, but in my opinion better. And, it’s totally free even for commercial websites unlike Askimet. It’s also pretty easy to setup and configure.

I can’t think of any drawbacks to using AntiSpam Bee. It’s just a great plugin all around.

Fifth is Yet Another Related Posts plugin (YARP). This one adds related posts to the bottom of your posts. So, if a visitor is reading your article at the bottom it will add similar posts you may have posted that might encourage the visitor to checkout as well.

The only drawback to YARP that I can’t personally confirm is I have read that it uses a little more resources than the average plugin. Whether that is true or not I can’t confirm or verify that. It seems to work fast enough to me, but what’s going on at the hosting level when using this plugin is unknown.

I like it and have never had any trouble with it in the past and up to the current date.

I could go on and on about plugins that are really helpful to me, but I would probably be here all day.

Here is a quick run down of what else I use on my 2 WordPress websites:
Comment Links New Tab (Developed by yours truly)
Comment Redirect by Yoast
Cookie Policy Header (My custom plugin)
Contact Form 7
Crayon Syntax Highlighter
Cloudflare
Cloudflare Flexible SSL
Easy Fancy Box
Key4ce osTicket Bridge
Incapsula
Limit Login Attempts
Members
My WP ToolTipster (My custom plugin)
Nav Menu Roles
P3 Plugin Performance Profiler
Reply Me
Revision Control
ScrollTop Fader (Developed by yours truly)
Simple Share Buttons Adder
Social Author Bio
Theme My Login
Widget CSS Classes
WooDojo
Woo Sidebars
WP Mail SMTP
WP-Page Navi

About half are used here on https://www.dialme.com/blog, and the other half on https://www.crucialinnovations.com. Some are used on both websites.

Some haven’t been updated in over 2 years. So, you will see that warning on the WordPress repository/Download page. I personally don’t believe it matters if some haven’t been updated in 2+ years. It doesn’t mean they are less secure. A brand new or newly updated plugin could have security issues just as well.

Incidentally “yours truly” has one more plugin available in the WordPress Repository that you might want to check out in your spare time called:
Fast Google Analytics

That’s a total of 3 plugins available by myself in the WordPress Repository. I don’t know that I will be adding more in the near future, but I will be maintaining the 3 that I have available.

The post My Top 5 Favorite WordPress Plugins - 2019 first appeared on DialMe.com | Webmaster Tips and Resources.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t have time to write a post every day. Nor, do I have time for 3-5 times per week either for that matter.

I don’t think there is a “you should”. It’s more about how much free time available you might have. Or, how much you enjoy writing in general.

If you have the time and you enjoy it by all means go for it. Write something 5-7 days per week.

Personally I don’t even have time for 2-3 times per week, and that is fine too.

Right now I am averaging 2 times per month. That is all I have time for and it works out pretty good for me.

Then again, I am not looking to attract tons of visitors or blog commentors for that matter. All that does is create more work in terms of moderation and checking comments for spam.

I do enjoy writing to some extent, but just not to the point that I am on the computer 24-7. Everyone needs some free entertainment time for themselves too.

I used to write more often, but I don’t really see the point anymore. I did get more visitors and comments, but I was also commenting on other blogs. A sort of you comment on my post and I’ll comment on yours was what it amounted to.

So, in my opinion there is no magic number you should shoot for. It’s more about what works for you and how much available time you have. It’s not worth burning yourself out over it.

A few years ago I knew this gal from the blog community. She posted 2-3 times per week for 6 months straight. Her main money maker was Google Adsense Ads.

At the end of the 6 months she made something like $10 from Google Ads. Whoopee!

She was a little disappointed and ended up quitting shortly thereafter.

Can’t say I blame her. All that time and work for a mere $10 doesn’t even come close to being profitable. Just imagine the amount of hours involved.

I have a few Google Ads on this website, but I don’t expect to make tons of money off them. I just figure heck if I make a few dollars here and there, then it’s a little added bonus.

I mostly write and publish articles as a hobby now. I originally started out writing Tutorials for Boonex Dolphin (CMS), and recently have been writing more generalized content and posts.

I guess I like a variety of content rather than the same topic over and over again.

I still enjoy Boonex Dolphin (CMS), but it’s nice to take a little break sometimes too.

So, bottom line write and publish as much as your little heart desires. Whether it’s 1 time per month or 30+ per month. Just get your game on and do it!

If you decide to give up because it’s not your thing, or for you that’s OK too. At least you tried.

The post How Many Articles Per Week Should You Publish? first appeared on DialMe.com | Webmaster Tips and Resources.

I should be able to move it from one location to another and it should continue working in the new location.

However, this isn’t always the case. And, in fact, it is rarely the case. Very few portable apps do not save something outside the directory/folder it was extracted to.

I have no idea why, but a lot of them do. And usually you don’t realize it until you accidentally stumble upon a folder or file related to it by accident.

Only a very small percentage of portable apps store everything within the folder it was extracted to. And, I do mean a very small percentage.

I have found portable apps that store files and settings all over my computer. Even in the Windows registry itself.

Generally that’s why I go with a portable version whenever possible to avoid cluttering and fragmenting the Windows registry.

Installer versions will add to the Windows registry, and if you uninstall the particular app there is almost always something that gets left in the registry.

It’s like the developers and programmers can figure out how to get it into the Windows registry, but not out upon uninstall for some reason.

I know they will leave traces, sometimes hidden or hard to find registry entries for trial software. You know the ones you can try/demo for 30 days, and then they stop working.

They leave something in the registry so you can’t uninstall the program, then re-install it to get another 30 days.

Whatever it is that they have left in the registry says no you already tried our software for 30 days sorry.

Now that I can understand to some extent because otherwise people would be uninstalling and re-installing all the time to get additional trial time.

But, apps that claim to be free and portable should store everything in the folder they were extracted to, and no Windows registry entries whatsoever.

To delete a portable app you simply delete the folder that it was extracted to and it should be 100% gone completely.

But, very few portable apps do this. They almost always store something somewhere on your computer. Which to me is not only annoying, but it adds clutter that shouldn’t really be happening.

So, I guess they should be called semi-portable app maybe? I don’t know what else to call them because they are not truly portable in my opinion. Even though they will run from another folder. It’s the extra stuff that they create that makes it non-portable to me.

I just hate clutter, and especially hate it when a portable app adds entries to the Windows Registry.

Unfortunately they do not tell you this. They just say our portable app … blah … blah … blah. Or, download the portable version …

So, you never know what you are really going to get with a portable app, how much, or what it will store elsewhere on your computer.

I still go with the portable version whenever possible because a lot of times I will move it to a flash drive while I’m testing it. And, to me it’s easier to remove when all I have to do is deleted the folder it was extracted to.

The post Are Portable Apps Really Portable? first appeared on DialMe.com | Webmaster Tips and Resources.

Maybe people just think they can, or were strait up lying because I don’t see that many people setting their phones down for that long.

I can’t remember for sure, but people check their phones something like 50+ times per hour another survey claimed. If that is true there is no way they could set their phones down for an extended amount of time.

It sounds like they couldn’t do it for a few minutes not to mention a full 24 hours.

They probably would be more likely to do so if there was some kind of incentive involved, but to do it voluntarily … no way that’s not going to happen.

I believe for the most part a computer or tablet would have similar results. Although a phone would be a little more difficult.

I think I would have a much more difficult time turning off the computer for 24 hours. I am not much of a cell phone user or tablet user for that matter, but the computer is another story.

All my daily activities revolve around my computer. Then again, I do a lot of programming and development so that would be difficult to set aside for a day.

Plus I watch a lot of movies on my computer just to kill some time. And, to give that up would be extremely difficult.

Sometimes I think we don’t even realize how dependent we are on are gadgets and gizmos. I would definitely be the first to admit to spending more time on the computer than I really should. But, I would be bored to death without it too.

Even my parents who are approaching their 70’s are on the computer more often than not. It’s kind of crazy the age span involved now. From young to old, we all spend a ton of time online and on our phones.

I don’t know what I would do if I were to unplug for 24 hours. I would be extremely bored and wouldn’t know what to do with myself, or how to kill time.

That pretty much leaves reading a book, or watching TV and I am not into either. If you were into these you would probably have an easier time unplugging. Although watching TV isn’t totally unplugging. At least it’s a little more old school and traditional.

My friends are all grown up and have families of their own. So, I don’t see myself hanging out with friends as an option or time killer.

I don’t draw or illustrate so that’s out too.

Honestly I can’t think of anything else to kill 24 hours worth of time within my lifestyle.

My 6 year old niece has an old phone she uses for internet and playing games, and she is on that thing an awful lot when she comes to visit. 6 years old can you believe it? Not what I was doing when I was 6 years old I’ll guarantee you that. But, we didn’t have that kind of thing available to us back then either.

Bottom line is I find it extremely difficult that anyone could unplug for 24 hours no matter what kind of device or devices we are talking about. We just live in a digitally connected age now, and that’s just the way it is.

Sometimes I think it’s kind of sad that it’s that way. Other times, I think we would be bored out of our minds without it too. So, it’s like a no win scenario, or like Bart Simpson says: “your damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.”

The post Could You Really Unplug for 24 Hours? first appeared on DialMe.com | Webmaster Tips and Resources.

Some folks do need older versions because their CMS (Content Management System) won’t work with newer PHP versions. So, they have no choice but to use the older version or find a new CMS to switch to that will work with newer PHP versions. Which isn’t always the ideal option. And, one that would require tons of work to migrate all the data to a new CMS platform. Not to mention links and backlinks will probably be structured differently.

These PHP developers seem to be cranking out new versions much faster than they used to. I don’t know what is with all of this rapid release stuff. Not just PHP, but a lot of software and apps are doing this now. Do we really need a new version every few weeks? Maybe security patches, but I can live without new features for a few weeks … sheesh!

Every time I turn on my computer, tablet, or phone something needs to be updated. Or, wants me to update it anyway.

I get so tired of all the updates all the time it has become ridiculous and never ending process now.

Not to mention they want access to all kinds of additional information on your tablet, phone, etc. you must agree to just to download the darn update.

I really don’t see whey some apps need access to your microphone. I mean what for what is the point when it has nothing to do with voice of any kind? It makes me wonder if the app is eavesdropping or recording you for god knows what purpose.

It seems to me Google started all this rapid release stuff with Chrome if I remember right. And, for some reason it’s like everyone wants to follow what Google is doing.

I wish they would just leave stuff alone and put out updates only a few times per year, but no we can’t do that now can we?

I really don’t see why PHP 5.6 is at or nearing its end of life. I always liked PHP 5.6. I am definitely not ready to make the jump to 7.x yet. Until my scripts can guarantee me that they are PHP 7.x friendly or ready, I’ll be sticking with version 5.6.

I just hate being forced to upgrade. I prefer to upgrade when I am good and ready to.

So, hopefully I can hold out for a while yet. The biggest concern I have is Os Ticket (My support ticket system). I’m not certain that it will run on PHP 7.x without upgrading, and I have too many modifications to do that yet.

The post How many PHP versions do we really need? first appeared on DialMe.com | Webmaster Tips and Resources.