This year IBM reported that the “global average cost of a data breach is up 6.4 percent over the previous year to $3.86 million.”

Every day, hundreds of people are getting calls from Google, the IRS, and various other commonly known entities. It always starts with them informing you that you either owe money or that your computer has been compromised and they need immediate access.This is considered social engineering.

These small business scams of today emerged from versions of advance-fee scams(a form of fraud that involves people giving money in hopes of some sort of return) like The Spanish Prisoner scam of 19th Century and the Nigerian Prince email scams from the last decade. The evolution from advance-fee to internet scare tactics happened because we all rely on the internet, at least most of us do. And, our inboxes got smart about marking spam as spam but our phone providers haven’t.

You may be laughing to yourself because you know better, but there is someone out there that will feel scared enough to take the bait (shout out to my Grandma). This trick is getting old for the majority of people but all that it takes is one slip-up to topple a tower as companies continue to depend on the internet for business.

Social Engineering involves the attacker using any means to gain trust with the victim before taking advantage of them. Attackers often use familiar key points to build authority and take advantage of their victim. When you get a call from “Google” you are familiar with that brand, but most people need a bit of an extra push, so the attacker also takes advantage of what the victim doesn’t know.  Most people use computers every day but they don’t know how they work, or what “malicious viruses” are capable of. This common scenario is known as pretexting, where the victim is prompted for immediate action, otherwise, there will be an imaginary consequence.

2. Risky Business (No not the movie)

-Social Media

Social media is a continuous risk for companies, it provides information that can be used for more targeted attacks and provides a platform for information to be shared quickly. An employee could release valuable information on the company that can be provided to a competitor. Any type of insider knowledge can affect stocks and public image.

Yes, we’re all well aware that Jessica hates her job, but we also know key information like her job title, favorite colors, pets, and mutual friends. With this information, you can guess passwords, familiarize yourself with her coworkers and strike up a friendly conversation. Perfect for tailgating or gaining trust within a social circle.

-Mobility

Mobility is tricky. It’s a lot safer to have in-house servers, programs and fail-safes; however, employees have their individual goals to complete, opening up the doors to using tools that are not provided by the company. Devices like private cellphones are a major risk to any company for their employee using the device to sign into work programs or make business-related phone calls.

BYOD (bring your own device) is one of the more concerning routes that companies are going in. Although useful in cutting down equipment costs, there are no guarantees on what information will be shared from that device.

Our next big issue is that laptops and mobile devices with sensitive information can be stolen. Or if a personal device is used, you can accidentally leak important information; for example, in 2017, a fitness app released a GPS map allowing people to find military bases. Even more alarming, it allowed users to track military personnel as they jog, creating detailed heat maps that could be used against them.

Take in careful consideration of what information your employees have access to. Help them minimize the risks of oversharing data that can negatively affect your company.

-Shadow IT

Shadow IT is the use of products outside of what’s provided by the company. This is particularly hard to control because the user may not realize that using outside tools is a hazard to intellectual property. Companies give their employees a task, and employees become resourceful in completing that task.

Sometimes it’s more convenient to go with an outside product, or perhaps the tools that have been provided to the employee are not complex enough to complete the task (this can also be that the employee is not skilled enough to use the tools provided.) This is where we run into employees seeking out and using outside products, like add-ons, cloud-based storage, and apps.

To help prevent an employee from downloading software that can lead to virus attacks, offer plenty of resources and training opportunities to get employees familiar with the various tools that they are able to use. A download manager can also be helpful in filtering out any problematic extensions or software that an employee may try to download.

3. The Lowdown on Common Social Engineering Attacks

-Tailgating isn’t just for cars

How many times have you been in a situation at a resort where someone has left their pool key back at their room. They ask you to let them in the gated area, or vice versa. The odds are high that as long as they look the part, you’ll let them in.

This is a dangerous scenario for companies. There’s a reason why people are required to sign in. If an unauthorized person has access to the floor, then they can easily steal passwords, drop infected USBs, and gain access to private information.

There was a time when I worked for a company and a coworker forgot his sign-in badge at home. Instead of going to the front desk to get a temporary day badge, he decided to tailgate into the office all day. This is a huge issue for numerous reasons. One; it is a safety hazard. If we have a fire or an emergency requiring us to leave the building, the company has no way of knowing he is there for the day. Two; none of these employees know if he’s still an employee, he could have been fired the day before and has come back to seek revenge on the company. Three; letting someone tailgate is sharing responsibility if something goes wrong. It also shows the blatant trust that employees have for someone labeled as their “own.” I guarantee that he didn’t know EVERY person he was tailgating. So if tailgating is not an issue for fellow employees it’s definitely not an issue for anyone looking for unauthorized access.

-Baiting

“I’ve never been good at fishing, but we’re referring to cybersecurity in this case.”-me. (This is how quotes work right?)

Baiting is when the victim is presented with an item that will spread malware once used. It can be a CD, USB, a script or any other item that can spread malware. Think of it as a Trojan Horse from the legendary story of Odysseus (or the movie Troy). A common issue is when a client sends over information in a USB, and the USB hasn’t been checked for malware by your in-house security team. Very rarely will an employee submit an item to the in-house security team. This can lead to malware being uploaded into the computer system.

-Phishing Emails (they’re tricky)

Phishing is extremely common, and for good reason. It has a very high success rate and it isn’t a very time-consuming process. Phishing is the process of creating an email or website that shows authority, and sometimes combines pretexting in order to prompt the receiver into action. Phishing emails depend on the receiver to click on a link to either take them to a malicious website or to download a hazardous file.

4. Best Business Practices to fight off social hackers

1. Start off with a Strong Foundation:

• AT&T lists that “just 61% of organizations mandate cybersecurity awareness training for all employees, while more than half admit to breaches from employee mobile devices infected with malware.”

• Educating yourself and your personnel is a huge part of securing your infrastructure from cyber attack risks. Having a proper training course to identify and avoid risks that your employees have continual access to is a major asset to any company that has something to lose.

2. Make Cybersecurity a Team Effort:

• Sharing the responsibility throughout the company makes team members more likely to reach out for help before potentially falling prey to common social engineering techniques.

3.  Manage Shadow IT by Empowering your Employees:

• No one likes extensive bureaucratic regulations being enforced, but when it comes to protecting sensitive information, the red tape does serve a purpose. But, being proactive and providing employees with the necessary tools to complete their tasks and showing them how to effectively use these tools lessens the need for more dramatic restraints. And, if they have specific programs that they want to use, encourage them to submit it to IT for approval before using.

4. Communicate who your Vendors are:

• Communicating to your employees who your vendors and maintenance are, and what days they will be in the building. Stress to always have them direct any questions to the management of utilities. Let employees know that it is perfectly acceptable to express concern to the management of anyone in the building that does not meet the descriptions provided to them.
  

5. The Weakest Link Conclusion

As you can see, people are easier to “hack” than a standard website with security practices in place. Having a course in place to show your employees how to protect themselves and the company from outside threats is a must, monitoring and collecting information will be your friend. Preparation and implementation are key to protecting your data within your company. It’s important to not only plan for an inevitable leak but to also prevent unnecessary leaks.

Can you please share or clap this post? It helps out a ton! Thank you for the support

AKOS works with businesses and nonprofits build their digital presence and systems for maximum impact. Learn more and get in touch with us at akosweb.com/contact

The post What is Social Engineering? Employees are your Weakest Link. appeared first on AKOS.

I believe that being adaptable has become a cliché, it’s everywhere, from internet memes to agency mottos (ironic…if you know who I work for). Change is hard, but accepting that you need to change is even goddamn harder.

But, change, if and when you do realize it’s necessity, can be uplifting and almost rejuvenating, like a deep exfoliation face treatment with crystals.

Now, Daniel Ramirez (@drmz.io), one of my colleagues is always pushing me to learn new things, and I hate him for it. “Damn Daniel, back at it again with your new world ways.” Although it feels very recent, because I’m old, it was maybe about a couple years ago that I got introduced to the BEM naming convention. At first, I didn’t like it as it felt like an overkill for writing CSS classes, but slowly – too slowly, I ended up embracing it. And now that I have, I want to write about it because that’s what people do.

Learning by association is exactly how I teach; I also have an affection for analogies, and Oreos.

What exactly is “BEM” and why use it?

BEM: Block Element Modifier, is a methodology that helps you create reusable components in CSS and code sharing in front-end development.

You can read more about it on the website but it’s basically, it says that “BEM is a highly useful, powerful, and simple naming convention that makes your front-end code easier to read and understand, easier to work with, easier to scale, more robust and explicit, and a lot more strict.” 

The BEM approach ensures that everyone who participates in the development works with a single codebase and speaks the same language. Using BEM’s proper naming convention will better prepare you for design changes made to your website.

“BEM”, as the name suggests, is made of three components – Blocks, Elements and Modifiers. And, so are Oreos – Cookies, Creme and Flavor.

Side Note: Look up why Oreos calls their filling Creme instead of Cream. Spoiler Alert: FDA.

A Block is a standalone entity that is meaningful on its own, it is a parent to it’s children – Elements. Elements have no meaning of their own and are semantically tied to their parent block. Modifiers are flags applied to the block or it’s children Elements to change their appearance or behavior.

Another unexpected benefit from using BEM has been the ease of naming class selectors. I am not spending hours and hours thinking of yet another creative way to name my classes like my first born, which is also yet to be decided.

Consider this web-page listing of Oreo offerings introducing us to the different magical flavors available. 

Let’s define and identify our Oreo Blocks, Elements and Modifiers.

1. Identify Blocks and Modifiers

Based on the design above, we want to build it in an efficient way for us to re-use our Block class name selectors within our Elements. For that, we start off by defining our Blocks and Elements. Not going to name them just yet, just identify what a block is and what are the elements inside each.

2. Identify Modifiers

Once we have blocks and elements defined, we need to identify and plan for modifications needed for each distinctive element compared to our baseline, ‘The OG Oreo’.

For our Oreos listings page, we have 2 Modifiers:

• Flavor of Oreo: Impacts row background color and font color within Block.
• Availability of Oreo: Impacts button style, color and state inside each Block.

Naming

Blocks:

Since blocks are meaningful stand alone entities, we want to name them as such. There are times that blocks can be nested within or interact with each other, but semantically they are equal.

For our Oreo products, each Oreo row block will be named oreo.

Elements

Inside each Block there are Elements that have no independent usage. Looking back at our Oreo listings: product image, Oreo logo, the product name, description, and CTA button are all dependent on the Block it lies in. There are no other instances where we will use these elements across our design that requires inheriting exactly the same layout and style specifications.

CSS class for Elements is formed as parent Block name followed by two underscores and element name. The element name can and should be a small description of its purpose in our layout. For our Oreo Listings example, here’s how we’ll name the elements.

Primary Elements

Package Image (Left Column): oreo__package

Oreo Details Area (Middle Column): oreo__details

Oreo CTAs (Right Column): oreo__action

Secondary Elements

(Inside Details Column)

Oreo Logo: oreo__details-logo

Oreo Product Name: oreo__details-name

Oreo Product Description: oreo__details-description

(Inside Actions Column)

Oreo CTA Button: oreo__action-eat

Oreo CTA Subtext: oreo__action-sub

Modifiers

Declaration and organization of Modifiers is probably my favorite part of using BEM. If you’ve used any frontend frameworks like Bootstrap, Foundation, Material UI etc., you are probably already familiar with usage of Element Modifiers.

• Bootstrap Buttons: btn-lg btn-block btn-success (btn-primary, btn-lg, and btn-link are modifiers for the btn element)
• Foundation Buttons: large expanded success (large, expanded, and success are modifiers for the button element)

These are examples of Element level modifiers, and that’s an easy implementation to add to your workflow. However, if you’re able to conceptualize and use modifiers on a Block-level, it can help out tremendously.

In our Oreos listings – we can certainly take the route of Element-level modifiers by adding modifiers to each element selector. But, wouldn’t it be easier to just add modifiers to the whole block since almost all of our modifications are block (Oreo package) specific. The background color gradient of the block, the font and button color, and font style of action sub-text is all dependent on the block.

Our Oreo Modifiers apply to three styles: Block background gradient, Block text color, and action buttons. From the three, Block background gradient and text colors are inherited from the Oreo flavor, while action button style (Ghost/Hollow vs Filled) is dependent on availability. This leads to two types of modifiers that can be applied to our block.

• Flavor Modifier (controls the background and text color): oreo--flavorX.
• Availability Modifier (controls the button style): oreo--is-unavailable

What happens if we don’t use a modifier? In our CSS block declarations, we can have a default styles for our primary block (The OG Oreo) and followed by Modifier declarations that overwrite the OG. Our default declarations will be the background and text color of the OG Oreo, and the filled button reflecting a currently available button style.

Here’s a list of modifiers for our entire Oreo listings page:

Flavor Modifiers

Default (No Modifier): The OG Flavor Style

oreo--the-og: Radial Background and Text Color: #272320

oreo--peanut: Radial Background and Text Color: #BF9859

oreo--redvelvet: Radial Background and Text Color: #BF9859

oreo--mint: Radial Background and Text Color: #61AD8F

oreo--chocolate: Radial Background and Text Color: #5B372C

oreo--birthday-cake: Radial Background and Text Color: #F963B9

oreo--lemon: Radial Background and Text Color: #F5B529

Let’s Make Oreos

Now, since we have all our BEMs defined and Class names finalized, let’s get to the best part.

Defining the Block(s)

/* Block component */
.oreo{
 /* Elements go here */
}

<div class="oreo">
    <!-- Elements Go Here -->
</div>

<!-- Block with flavor Modifier -->
<div class="oreo oreo--red-velvet">
    <!-- Elements Go Here -->
    ...
</div>

<!-- Block with flavor Modifier and availability Modifier -->
<div class="oreo oreo--red-velvet oreo--is-unavailable">
    <!-- Elements Go Here -->
</div>

Defining Elements

/* Block component */
.oreo{
 /* Elements within the block */
 &__package{
     ...
 }
 &__details{
     ...
 }
 &__action{
     ...
 }
}

<div class="oreo"> <!-- << Block >> -->
    <div class="oreo__package"> <!-- << Primary Element: Package Image >> -->
        <!-- <img> goes here --> ...
    </div>
    <div class="oreo__details"> <!-- << Primary Element: Package Details >> -->
            <!-- Secondary Elements for Details go here -->
            ...
    </div>
    <div class="oreo__action"> <!-- << Primary Element: Package Purchase Action >> -->
        <!-- Secondary Elements for Purchase Actions go here -->
        ...
    </div>
</div> <!-- << End Block >> -->

Adding Modifiers to Blocks

<div class="oreo oreo--red-velvet oreo--is-unavailable"> 
    <!-- << Block Level Modifiers Added for Flavor and Availability >> -->
    ...
</div>

/* Colors Sass Map */
$flavor-colors: (
   the-og: #272320,
   red-velvet: #A92229,
   mint: #61AD8F,
   choco-creme: #4C241F,
   birthday-cake: #F963B9,
   peanut-butter: #BF9859,
   lemon: #F5B529
);

/* Flavor Modifier Classes */
@each $name, $color in $flavor-colors {
    .oreo--#{$name}{
        color: $color;
        background: linear-gradient(to right, rgba(255,255,255,0.3) 0%,rgba($color,0.3) 50%,rgba(255,255,255,0.3) 100%);
        button{
            background: $color;
            &:hover, &:active, &:focus{
                background: smart-scale($color, 25%);
            }
        }
        .oreo__action-sub{
            color: $color;
        }
        /* Button Modifier - if unavailable */
        &.oreo--is-unavailable{
            button{
                border: 1px solid $color;
                color: smart-scale($color, 25%);
            }
        }
    } 
}

Sprinkle in some the rest of the CSS for your layout, and voilà! we have our Oreo Listings Page.

See the Pen Oreo x BEM by Sahil (@sahilakos) on CodePen.

See the Pen Oreo x BEM by Sahil (@sahilakos).

Now since you have the Oreo grid laid-out on your screen, it’s time to jump back into the real world; so head on over to your nearest grocery store and buy all the different flavors of Oreo you can find.

AKOS works with businesses and non-profits to build their digital presence, and marketing systems for maximum impact. Learn more and get in touch with us at akosweb.com/contact

The post Learn the CSS “BEM” Naming Convention with Oreos appeared first on AKOS.

Here are three real-life badasses who influence success in our personal and professional lives:

Tim Berners-Lee

The reason you can read this today

You’re on the World Wide Web. How? This guy invented the whole damn thing.

Tim Berners-Lee is the spark that led to many important things in our lives. Email. Google. Memes. Had it not been for his invention, we probably wouldn’t exist today. (We as in AKOS, although we as in humanity isn’t too far off, if I’m being dramatic.)

But Berners-Lee has contributed to the world in plenty of other ways that continuously inspire us. By creating the WWW with a royalty-free approach, he allowed the web to rapidly grow in ways it would otherwise have not. He chose mass benefit over personal profit. Today, he continues to give voice to and code for the people, and actively seeks to decrease online abuse.

Did you know he’s also been knighted by Queen Elizabeth II? For all he’s done, we’ll gladly call him Sir Timothy John Berners-Lee if he asks.

RuPaul Andre Charles

The cultural icon for a changing world

Building acceptance and influencing an entire culture is one hell of a job, but RuPaul Andre Charles proves that persistence and authenticity can create a major impact.

RuPaul became one of the world’s best-known drag queens with the early 90s release of “Supermodel (You Better Work).” This would be followed by more records and groundbreaking moments. One of our favorites: becoming the first spokesmodel in drag for a major cosmetics company, for the first lipstick to confront AIDS.

Today, RuPaul isn’t just a voice for drag culture and the LGBTQ community. By bringing what was once niche into pop culture, particularly by introducing new drag queens to the world throughout 9+ years of RuPaul’s Drag Race, he also gives voice to everyone else. His work encourages diversity, while proving the influence of historically disadvantaged communities on modern language.

Getting knighted by the queen of the UK isn’t likely to happen in our near future, but perhaps we’ll be lucky enough to be yassed by this queen.

Paula Scher

The woman to know in graphic design

What if typography and color could transform your perspective of a brand? Paula Scher proves it can, with branding strategy behind the design.

Paula Scher has led the art and design industry through shifting trends of nearly four decades. Since becoming a partner at Pentagram — the world’s largest independently owned design studio — in 1991, she has designed iconic campaigns for Tiffany & Co., Microsoft and many cultural institutions like the MoMA.

The MoMA, as well as other international museums, continue to honor her incredible work with permanent collections in their halls. Scher, who has been awarded with the distinguishing AIGA Medal, continues to push the boundaries of how design can represent a brand. Her work encourages designers to view identity as an all-encompassing experience.

If wisdom truly does come with time, Paula Scher’s persistence in the top ranks of design prove that she’s the ultimate practitioner, and we’re lucky to learn from her.

Who inspires your perspective of the world?

Shout them out in the comments to give thanks, and stay tuned for more in our People of Influence series to see if they’ve inspired us, too!

Want to see how our people of influence have inspired our work? Check out how we help businesses and nonprofits build their digital presence and systems for maximum impact on our site, then get in touch with us at akosweb.com/contact

The post People of Influence: Part 2 appeared first on AKOS.

Whether you’re in design and development or running the best damn taco stand in all of Arizona, you were inspired. You were inspired by the support of your clients, the trends of your time and the passion that drives you. And you were likely influenced by someone who turned your wildest dreams into can-do stories.

We’re honoring the leaders who have influenced our careers, our work and who we are as people. These are our first three:

Angel Anderson

A UX designer turned CEO

For anyone who dreams of professional growth in the field they’re passionate about (who doesn’t?), Angel Anderson is a tremendous inspiration.

Before she became the founder and CEO of NailSnaps, an innovative company that blends fashion and technology, she was a creative director who steadily moved beyond static design and became a champion of the UX process. Namely, she is the former Sr. Interaction Designer at HUGE Inc, and the former VP and Experience Director at Crispin Porter + Bogusky LA.

Her work in interactive design has positively impacted international companies, including Domino’s, Pepsi and many household brands that don’t add delicious calories to our plate. Even former President Barack Obama was inspired to name Small Business Saturday a national holiday while she led its UX design. Thanks, Obama? More like thanks, Anderson.

Today, Anderson continues to spread her influence through her public speaking, pitching and more. We’re excited to see what else she has in store for the world.

Lebron James

An athlete with a philanthropic heart

No one follows through quite like Lebron James. He dedicated $42 million in scholarships for his hometown; the University of Akron got it. He made it his mission to create positive change with the Lebron James Family Foundation; they designed a whole school. He promised Cleveland a championship; the Cavs got it and a flipping parade.

He may not be a mad scientist or a genius coder, but James certainly can’t be called just an athlete. In addition to being the highest paid player on the court, an Olympic gold medalist, a three-time NBA champ… Okay, even if he was just an athlete, he’d be impressive enough.

But to get the full story of Lebron James, you need to take into account that he’s also a smart businessman all around. He has invested in the fastest-growing restaurant chain ever, co-founded a production company, and rakes in $30 million annually through his lifetime deal with Nike alone.

James is the perfect rags-to-riches story and example of why it is important to A) be multifaceted, B) remember where you came from, and C) never stop learning.

Elon Musk

An inventive mind of our generation

From majoring in physics to perhaps tweeting the most valuable 61 characters in the world, Elon Musk is a visionary fit for our modern world.

Since the early 2000s, Musk led numerous businesses in the creation of products that have major implications for our world. From SpaceX to Tesla and Hyperloop, his ventures have a clear focus on creating sustainable technology solutions — effectively bringing all his crazy ideas to life through thorough research, intelligent processes and constant ideation.

No matter how wild Elon Musk stories are getting these days, there’s no doubt about his influence on technology. After all, he has 22.3 million followers taking in his words and looking forward to his important contributions to modern society:

Who are your greatest influences?

Shout them out in the comments to give thanks, and stay tuned for more in our People of Influence series to see if they’ve inspired us, too!

Want to see how our people of influence have inspired our work? Check out how we help businesses and nonprofits build their digital presence and systems for maximum impact on our site, then get in touch with us at akosweb.com/contact

The post People of Influence: Part 1 appeared first on AKOS.

User experience design is NOT a one-and-done deal. In order to create and maintain a good user experience you MUST iterate.

Note: User experience design can (and needs to) be applied to any product, service and experience when being conceptualized, built and run. For the purpose of this article, we’re focusing on digital user experiences only.

What is human in digital UX?

TechTarget defines the digital user experience as “the take-away feeling an end user has after an experience in a digital environment.”

While this is true, I like to be more explicit. Digital user experience is the feeling a human has in the introduction to, during and after an experience in your digital environment.

Your digital environment can be your website, app, online game, the list goes on.

It’s important that we not remove ourselves, humans, from this equation, even in how we talk about the experience. It’s not ‘the’ or ‘it’, our pronouns need to be ‘yours’, ‘mine’, ‘ours.’ The reason being we’re not making this for a machine or an algorithm sitting on a server, that may be part of the tech that makes your digital environment function, it’s not your end user.

7 Questions you must answer with confidence to make a good human digital UX:

The Interaction Design Foundation lists 7 factors in user experience design: Useful, Usable, Findable, Credible, Desirable, Accessible and Valuable. Devised from these standards, here are questions to ask yourself, your team, and super importantly your market:

• Is your digital experience actually useful? Like for real, be honest.
• Is your digital experience fairly easy to use?
• How can your user find your digital experience?
• Is your digital experience a credible (legitimate) solution to a certain pain point/problem?
• Do people really want your digital experience?
• Does your digital experience meet the standards of accessibility?
• What value is your digital experience delivering to your users?

Somewhat of a side step to UX, but also super important to ask yourself for internal business purposes: Is my digital experience financially sustainable?

3 Steps to put the YOU in digital UX

Ask, evaluate, then iterate.

1. Ask your users what they think. Really.
   • Use the list of questions above.
   • Listen to them.
2. Evaluate their feedback.
   • Note: Not all feedback points will need to be implemented. Just be sure you’re accurately weighing your user feedback to what you’re striving to create. People don’t always see the leap forward that you’re trying to make. That said, don’t disregard their feedback.
   • Determine which feedback points make sense to implement to support the vision and purpose of the product.
3. Then Iterate on your digital experience.
   • While you may not use all of the feedback you gather from your users on your product itself, it serves an additional purpose. You get to see where your users’ heads are at, which can help you see how you need to present your product to them via marketing messaging.

I can already hear the questions being yelled from the interwebs.

What If you don’t know the answers yet because you haven’t launched beta? What happens if you aren’t able to answer or meet these questions with confidence? Or maybe you used to be able to answer these but can no longer.

Here’s what you can do, IMO.

Do a prototype, maybe not a rapid prototype and run a quick and dirty user test which can be done in person or virtual. This will help you connect or reconnect with your user base. But keep in mind, the UX process is never finished.

That said… Go make the damn thing!

Run humans through it, make it better, launch it and continue to ask, evaluate and iterate to keep your digital experience relevant, helpful and ultimately memorable. Memorable for the pain-point it’s solving for us, not the steps involved.

The post Put the Human in UX: 3 Steps and 7 Questions appeared first on AKOS.

WordPress is a content management system (CMS) originally made for blogging; however, it has developed into a CMS used for more robust websites. That being said, using a lot of plugins can bloat your website. Using snippets for WordPress can get you the same functionality without the bulk. This is a list of snippets that we have compiled for your use.

Before we get there, take note: Please — please! — always make a backup of your files before making any modifications.

1. Default robots.txt for WordPress

A robots.txt file located in the root folder of your WordPress installation. It offers an advantage in search engine optimization by allowing your site to communicate with search engine indexing bots. It lets them know what they should and shouldn’t index in your website files. A robots.txt file won’t hold your site back from being indexed, but it helps clean up pages that aren’t necessary to be filed in search engines.

How to Implement:

1. Create a file named robots.txt
2. Copy and paste the snippet above to the file
3. Switch the placeholder information with your unique address and save the file
4. Drop the file in your root directory for your website

2. Fix Cookie Error in WordPress

WordPress is the Frankenstein monster of CMS: Numerous developers come together to offer a wide array of functions for your website. However, this means that you’re putting together a website with plugins made by individuals who are putting together scripts that may not be compatible with each other.

Some of you may be familiar with the following message:
Error: Cookies are blocked or not supported by your browser. You must enable cookies to use WordPress.

If this isn’t an error brought on by your web browser, you can use the cookieError.php snippet to say that if it finds the following cookie path, then it’s equal to that path. This overrides the error triggered and is great if you are constantly logging into your website.

How to Implement:

1. Go to your functions.php file
2. Copy and paste the snippet above to the file
3. Save the file

3. Hack into WordPress Through functions.php

Sometimes you just don’t have the information you need to get into a WordPress website with the front interface. You can use the functions.php to make a WordPress user similar as to how you would make it in the SQL database. It’s especially fast if you already have server access.

How to Implement:
To implement this snippet, you need to have access to the functions.php file
1. Copy and paste the snippet to the functions.php
2. Use the credentials to log into /wp-admin to gain access

Recommended Steps After Access

1. Make a user using the normal method of creating an admin with the SQL database
2. Delete the user in functions.php once you have access to the normal SQL database user

4. Insert a Custom Login Logo for WordPress Dashboard

When you log into WordPress, it automatically shows their logo in the admin login page. If you have a lot of people logging into your site, sometimes it’s nice to have your own branding stick out. Using a bulky plugin just to add an image into your website is a waste of valuable resources. Instead, you can use a snippet to achieve the same result.

How to Implement:

1. Go to your functions.php file
2. Copy and paste the snippet above to the file
3. Add your background image URL to the snippet
4. Save the file

5. Remove Query Strings from Static Resources in WordPress

If you use website speed checkers, you may see this error: Remove Query String from Static Resources. It wants you to clean up your query strings so your website can be optimized. This should help your website speed and could boost your ranking on Google.

How to Implement:

1. Go to your functions.php file
2. Copy and paste the snippet above to the file
3. Save the file

6. Simple .htaccess for WordPress

This handy .htaccess file can be used instead of the one that your host uploads for you (in most cases). They usually have their own server cache, but if you want to keep it as simple as possible, this one will do the job.

How to Implement:

1. Backup your current .htaccess file
2. Edit a copy of the file and delete the current information
3. Copy and paste the snippet above to the file
4. Save the file

7. Hide Subscription Form from Returning Subscribers

This is a snippet involving a cookie so that you can hide your forms if someone has already subscribed. It’s great because it helps keep your current subscribers happy. Afterall, no one enjoys repetitive information being sent to them. Having a healthy newsletter network is essential in staying competitive in this market.

How to Implement:

1. Go to your functions.php file
2. Copy and paste the snippet above to the file
3. Save the file

8. How to Set the First Image of Your Post as Featured

Going back and forth in the dashboard to set your featured images is a tedious process that can be done using a WordPress snippet. This snippet is a quick and easy fix for bloggers. Anything that saves time that could be used on content is useful.

How to Implement:

1. Go to your functions.php file
2. Copy and paste the snippet above to the file
3. Save the file

9. Redirect WordPress Users to Different Pages on Login

Redirecting a WordPress user after login can be beneficial in so many ways, especially for marketing purposes. Once they log in, you can direct them to a specific area on your website before allowing them into their usual user portal.

How to Implement:

1. Go to your functions.php file
2. Copy and paste the snippet above to the file
3. Save the file

10. Add Additional Image Sizes to Your WordPress Options

By default, WordPress allows four image size selections in their UI Thumbnail size (150px square); Medium size (maximum 300px width and height); Large size (maximum 1024px width and height); and Full size (full/original image size you uploaded).

Using the following WordPress snippet, you can add additional sizes to the list. This is helpful because WordPress isn’t adept at handling image constraining, and content can call for deviance from these four sizes.

Your custom image sizes won’t show up in your media settings or your post edit screen, but it will be usable when calling a post thumbnail via PHP.

How to Implement:

1. Go to your functions.php file
2. Copy and paste the snippet above to the file
3. Save the file
4. Call snippet using PHP.

11. Add a WordPress Tag Cloud Anywhere on Your Site

This is a cool WordPress snippet if you are a blogger because you can get a lot of topics in front of your audience. In this case, it’s more so that you can bypass the use of widget areas. This is more for the creative sphere of development.

How to Implement:

1. Go to your functions.php file
2. Copy and paste the snippet above to the file where you want the tag cloud to be displayed
3. Save the file

12. Increase Memory Limit in php.ini

Having your memory allocation set up can save you a lot of effort in the future. Setting it to 300M will ensure that you don’t have to touch it again. If you’re running into issues with the memory limit, then you will have to get more space on your individual server. After using this snippet to clean up your plugin space, that won’t be necessary.

How to Implement:

1. Go to your php.ini file
2. Find the “WP_MEMORY_LIMIT”
3. Change the number to 300M
4. Save the file

13. Add a Copyright that Changes Based on the Date

This is such a small touch that most people wouldn’t think about making it dynamic. However, having a footer that automatically displays the year is one way to add a professional edge to your design. It also keeps your website looking up to date without having to change your footer text every year.

How to Implement:

1. Go to your functions.php file
2. Copy and paste the snippet above to the file
3. Save the file
4. Place this into your widget area of your footer:

14. Add Fontawesome Icons to Your Site

Icons can be a fun way to add an app-like experience to your current website design. Fontawesome is an established library that is versatile and responds well with CSS. Adding Fontawesome to your WordPress website is easy and you can call on the library as needed.

How to Implement:

1. Go to your functions.php file
2. Copy and paste the snippet above to the file
3. Save the file
4. Call upon the name of the icons in your code to be able to use the icons

15. Add SVG Compatibility to WordPress

WordPress blocks you from being able to upload SVGs because they can be a security issue. Since the everyday WordPress user doesn’t know how to spot malicious snippets, the developers decided to disable the upload for the greater good of all WordPress users.

If you’re a developer, you will probably want to make some cool SVG animations in your WordPress site, so using this snippet will allow you to upload them without the assistance of a plugin.

How to Implement:

1. Go to your functions.php file
2. Copy and paste the snippet above to the file
3. Save the file

Takeaway

What makes WordPress a powerful tool is its flexibility with adding functions to its normal framework. There are a ton of snippets available that are extremely practical and this list only begins to dip into what is available. If you go with snippets for functionality before plugins you can ensure that your website has the minimal code to perform quickly.

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Need help with implementing WordPress snippets or want to build your website further? We can help.

AKOS works with businesses and nonprofits build their digital presence and systems for maximum impact. Learn more and get in touch with us at akosweb.com/contact

The post 15 Useful WordPress Snippets. appeared first on AKOS.

Finally, write the your plan for pursuing your passion — the how.

As an entrepreneur, and a math nerd, I believe our successes, failures and plateaus can be plotted through simple exponential and logarithmic functions. In successes, as the value of x gets larger, the function value of f(x) increases more and more dramatically. In failures, as the value of x gets larger, the function value of f(x) drops more and more drastically. A little impact to x, can increase or decrease the outcome radically. And, then there are logarithmic functions that might come into play from time to time. Where, beyond a certain point, the value of x increasing doesn’t lead to a radical shift in the outcome. It’s when you’re not winning, or losing — you’re just surviving.

Passion is necessary for an exponential growth, but the same passion can also lead to satisfaction in survival for just long enough before the exponential demise. Passion alone isn’t enough. The answer then lies in the plan. And, realistically, even then it might not be enough, you might scale or you might bust out. But the plan gets you to the moment of realization sooner rather than later.

In my line of work, I often meet people with passion who need help devising a plan and executing it. But, I also meet individuals with a solid plan, but they lack the passion almost entirely. The latter, I can’t help, but the former is why I rise and stay awake. The words following are for the insanely passionate.

I was wrong

It used to be tough saying these words. Initially in my career, my ego wouldn’t let me. I am finding that the older, wiser me is saying it more often now. And, it’s not because of some newly discovered humility, it comes from acceptance. I accept that I will not get it right the first time, maybe even the second or the third, but eventually I will. Similarly, a successful blueprint isn’t based on immediate perfection but eliminative iterations leading to success — accepting when you’re wrong, and moving on, over and over again till you’re right.

Perfection is unnecessary

Looking back, I regret almost every time I tried to achieve the perfect solution, including the times when I did achieve it. The trade-off of additional time, money and resources was almost never worth the outcome. The satisfaction factor and outcome margin between excellence and perfection is narrow, too narrow to justify insane passion associated with perfection.

Quick and cheap can be good enough

It’s ironic that I believe this because my job relies on convincing people that it isn’t true. This opinion, however, has an expiration date and there comes a time where quick and cheap will not make the needle move, at least not forward. But, I do believe that we now live in a Deploy or Die world for passionate ideas. Initially, your plan needs to quickly and cheaply validate your idea in market adaptation and financial feasibility before it’s too late and your passion becomes unrealistic infatuation. A key part of your blueprint plan should be to verify if it’s worth the sacrifices you’re going to make going forward. If the answer is yes, then and only then, you stride forward.

Being unique is overrated

As Emily mentions in her post on intellectual property laws:

“Uber and Lyft are similarly competing with virtually the same features for riders and drivers, down to vehicle options, rates and tips. They shamelessly steal from each other. Their drivers are often the same…. even their goals are the same.”

Being the first of your kind may have it’s benefits, but it has little to do with success. Legality isn’t a concern unless you’re blatantly stealing, and tenacious passion and will can justify the ethics of it. Where it matters most is defining and delivering on your own key differentiators (X-factor); your launch plan needs to shout it out from the mountain top.

I can’t do this alone

An idea’s conception may be a solo act but it is impractical to stay passionate and continuously scale with a few heroic acts by one person…you. Sharing your passion will attract the support you need to stay on the path of exponential growth, and expanding your support group at key intervals will help in skipping over pitfalls that you may be too close to see. Before you get too far, plan to bring in trusted advisers during each stage, they will not only bring in new perspective but also dedicated expertise in areas you may lack in.

Now that you have your passion written down, write down your assumed constraints, write your needs to overcome those constraints, then define what success looks like and finally, get started on the first draft of your plan.

Bonus: Look back

The future may always be a mystery, but the past is written. Go back to the beginning from time to time to look at the paper you inked your passion on, it’s going to ground you back to the wistful love affair that started you on your journey. That optimistic innocence can sometimes be lost in the practical pessimism that comes along with executing plans in the real world.

One of my next posts will go deeper into coming up with an iterative blueprint plan for your passionate idea. Stay tuned…

The post Passion without a plan is insanity, Plan without passion is idiocy. appeared first on AKOS.