Some in the web community get really angry and even demonizing at the announcement of any software, service or technique that comes out saying that it can to a part of their job. But I don’t.

When it comes down to it, if we don’t adapt to a changing environment we’ll soon find ourselves copying manuscripts by hand. I’ll briefly explain. When the Gutenberg Press was invented in the 15th century, what do you think happened to all the hard-working folks that were copying documents by hand? They were now obsolete and eventually replaced with a machine that could do it faster and more efficiently. If you were a scribe you had two options to move forward: 1) learn how to use a printing press, or 2) train for a new vocation.

At this point in my life I’m ready to learn how to use a printing press. If there’s a software, service or technique that replaces a function of my job, I had better learn how to use it. If I don’t, there’s only so long I can go before someone else does it better, faster and cheaper than me. Beyond job security, innovation is important in its own right. Why should I slow down progress for the sake of my own stubbornness to learn something new? Your client is looking to you as the expert and if they benefit from a new technology they’ll appreciate your commitment and willingness to make sacrifices to seek their good over your own.

Now, I’m speaking vaguely, there can very well be another moral aspect to this. Perhaps the new software or service does a poor job, or takes a detour from your client’s goals or user-centricity. In that case, reject it and be able to explain why. Generally though, I don’t see that happening. What I do see happening is that designers/coders are saying, “I know how to use this software not that software and I don’t want to change.” Or perhaps immediately writing off something new because it’s in a beta-phase, rather than trying to make it better.

Let’s not be afraid of innovation. If there’s someone or something out there doing your job poorly, do it better. And if there’s someone or something doing your job better and you’re afraid of it, you have two options to move forward: 1) learn it, or 2) excel in a different direction that you are more gifted in. But, unless you can provide a niche value to your clients, stop copying your manuscripts by hand.

The post Why I’m Not Afraid of Software or Services Aimed at Taking My Job appeared first on Robert Spangler.

This is not a WordPress problem, but a website problem. WordPress has a reputation for being less secure, but in reality a lot of this is because WordPress is ~16% of the web. Meaning all of the sites out there with username “admin” and password “bieberfever” aren’t going to make it long before they get broken into. And, depending on your host, once a site is broken into it’s not long before others on the same server get broken into as well. The web can be a scary place.

Choose your username wisely

Treat your username like your password, keep it to yourself. If you’re on WordPress the easiest change for you to do is change your Admin username from “admin” to something unique. We run a lot of high traffic websites on WordPress and always do our best to secure the login. I thought I’d share some of the most common usernames I see coming through brute-force attacks. This way you know not to use them.

Most common usernames I see that bots are using

• admin
• adminadmin
• administrator
• support
• root
• moderator (added 6/19/2013)
• manager (added 6/19/2013)

Don’t use a password, use a passphrase

Passwords are easy to hack, really easy. More than likely, if you’re using a one-word password it’s in a dictionary that hackers are using to brute-force into sites. Use something long and ridiculous  such as: dinosaurfiremoose. You can throw in some numbers and symbols if you’d like. Required reading: http://xkcd.com/936/.

Block the bots

Use a plugin to help secure your login page. Typically these plugins will look for several failed login-attempts in a short amount of time and slowdown or block the potential intruder’s IP address. These attempts are obviously not coming from a person genuinely trying to login.

Here are a few plugins that provide this protection

• iThemes Security (Better WP Security) – http://wordpress.org/plugins/better-wp-security/
  
• WordFence – http://wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence/
• Login Security Solution – http://wordpress.org/plugins/login-security-solution/

The post Preventing Brute Force Attacks appeared first on Robert Spangler.

On thing that has always bothered me was that the first day of the week started on Monday. Many westerners, like myself, aren’t used to seeing our calendars that way.

The change is very simple, but it’s not located in the Plugin settings. Rather, it’s located in the General settings (/wp-admin/options-general.php) at the very bottom.

The post How to Make The Events Calendar Plugin Start Week on Sunday appeared first on Robert Spangler.

<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css" media="all">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.tablet.css" media="all and (min-width: 570px)">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.desktop.css" media="all and (min-width: 960px)">
<!--[if (lt IE 9)&(!IEMobile)]>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.tablet.css" media="all">
<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.desktop.css" media="all">
<![endif]-->

The post Mobile-first Stylesheets for IE6/7/8 appeared first on Robert Spangler.

Here’s the long list of features, and below, in my opinion, are the key features:

• All WordPress Updates
• Scheduled backups
• Security audit + monitoring by Sucuri
• Free WordPress migration, if needed
• 1 hour of development time (plugin install, audit, css fix, etc.)
• Discounted development costs

Why do I need this?

This is mainly for clients and site admins, not developers or super users (unless you want to get paid every month for referring people).

The people working on your site are experienced and are all involved in the WordPress community, your information and accounts are treated like the Crown Jewels, and we understand business and the web.

The post Introducing WP Maintainer appeared first on Robert Spangler.

• Here’s a demo
• Here’s the link to it on github

You can adjust the delay, the top threshold, the bottom threshold, and the animation speed.

$(".block").snapPoint({ 
    scrollDelay: 550,       //Amount of time the visitor has to scroll before the snap point kicks in (ms)
    scrollSpeed: 90,        //Length of smooth scroll's animation (ms)
    outerTopOffset: 220,    //Number of pixels for the downward vertical offset (relative to the top of your snapping container)
    innerTopOffset: 0       //Number of pixels for the upward vertical offset (relative to the top of your snapping container)
});

I’m not a professional javascript guy, but I’m excited to release my first official plugin. Feel free to poke around and make any suggestions.

The post SnapPoint jQuery Plugin appeared first on Robert Spangler.

This one was not fun to diagnose, I initially thought it was something with the HTML5,  Chrome Frame or Modernizr. I was wrong, it was a bug with jQuery.

The Solution

It is an issue with jQuery version 1.6.2 (which was the latest version at time of development). Luckily they fixed the issue, so the fix on your end is simple… Update to the latest version of jQuery.

Here’s the support ticket from their change log.

The post Random IE8 Crashes – “This tab has been recovered” appeared first on Robert Spangler.

With some help from LongTail Video Support (thank you!) I found a solution.

It turns out that sometimes the config attributes for the playlist are not carried over. So, you can force them in your [jwplayer] shortcode attributes.

Here’s some sample code to show you what I’m talking about.

Original:

[jwplayer playlistid="123"]

Updated:

[jwplayer playlistid="123" playlist.position="bottom" playlist.size="250"]

The key attributes being “playlist.position” and “playlist.size” I hope this helps!

The post JW Player for WordPress – Playlist Not Displaying appeared first on Robert Spangler.

You can resolve this by uploading your files to a live production server, but that is a pain, especially if you’re still in development.

There’s a very simple solution:

1. Close Chrome completely
2. Launch Chrome from Terminal with the “–allow-file-access-from-files” argument

open /Applications/Google Chrome.app --args --allow-file-access-from-files

This will allow that session of Chrome to access local files. Note: Once you close and reopen the application you’ll no longer have access to local files again.

The post JQuery .load() Doesn’t Work in Chrome appeared first on Robert Spangler.

A freelancer is not just a designer or developer, you have a few new roles now like sales, accounting and customer service. Introverts have to work a bit differently than our outgoing counterparts. So here are some helpful tips for freelancing and keeping the business going.

“Sir, Would You Like to Buy These Pixels?”

Our biggest hurdle is sales.

We don’t typically make good salesmen, but we can use this to our advantage. People who are serious about getting results are less interested in getting sold to and more interested in what you have to offer. Spend some time and go through your own resume, why are you qualified? Did you get results for clients at your last job? Talk about it, especially if it’s a well-known client. Be real and don’t fake it trying to sound like Joe Schmoozer, because it will show!

Build partnerships. Lets face it, even if we hold to the advice above, our cold calling skills aren’t going to win us a lot of business. We sound awkward, and we’re not good at holding conversations about the weather or the Dallas Cowboys. Get some friends that compliment your services. If you’re a designer start getting in touch with some development agencies (and vice versa). Even if you have to offer a discounted partner rate (and you should) partnerships will be keeping your lights on.

Keep a great portfolio. I won’t spend time on this because it’s obvious, but the point should be made that our work is what’s going to sell what we do.

Take GOOD care of your clients. Your business is going to be made up of a lot of referrals and repeat customers. This is a good thing. Referral projects and projects for repeat customers cost us no advertising or sales dollars. Be sure to hook your clients up with a freebie here and there, and if you close a referral they send, give your referring client a gift or work in a cut of the profit.

“Where Does This Decimal Go?”

This really isn’t just a tip for introverts… but don’t be afraid to get professional help. Don’t mess around and get yourself in trouble with the IRS, find a good accountant to take care of your taxes. There are a lot of invoicing and accounting software packages that will help you out as well. Definitely check out Harvest, FreshBooks and QuickBooks to name a few.

Keep yourself accountable and don’t let the freedom get the best of you! Since you no longer have a manager breathing down your neck, you’re going to need some goals. Use time-tracking software to make sure you’re still working a solid workday. Check out Harvest, FreshBooks and Basecamp to name a few.

“The Phone Keeps Shaking, and So Do I”

Being a business owner you’re going to feel that need to always be connected. Do yourself a favor, turn off email notifications after business hours and give social media a break. Sure you can still check it when necessary to make sure the sky is still in place. But let’s be real, we’re quickly drained by a lot of social activity, I think this still applies on the digital world. Give yourself some time to enjoy peace and quiet. If you feel the phone shake, you’re going to check it and too much connectivity can be dangerous.

To Conclude…

There will always be ups and downs, but that’s the recipe for any good adventure. Above all things mentioned in this article, the best advice is to use what some consider to be downsides as an advantage. What you lack is networking skills make up for in solid client relationships, what you lack in sales make up for with building trust with partners and existing clients.

The post An Introvert’s Guide to Freelancing appeared first on Robert Spangler.