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* Tech Tip For The Day **

    Can People Easily Access Your Files? WordPress Users: Do this now – enter your website address in your browser with /wp-content/uploads at the end. If you can see anything like what you see in this image … … so can everyone else. And they can tap into anything in those links. This is a real danger if you use the upload feature to load in pdf files etc. By adding an empty index.php page in your uploads folder then you can block some unauthorized access! You can add an index.php to your download folder as well. What this does is… Read More »* Tech Tip For The Day **

    Make you own Widget – And More – Easy

      Here I go again  hunting down tools that you can use.

      This looks really useful. Make Your Own Widget. This site makes it so simple to put together a widget, a mobile app, a countdown, and more.

      It’s free to join and, if you’re looking for tools for your site but aren’t ready to create your own, you can access some from others to use on your site and provide more content for your readers. Downside is that the free version loads up Google ads  hiding lots of your feed. So you’re kind of obliged to pay for the pro version – that’s going to cost you $30 a year or $4 a month. You’d have to decide if your existing platform doesn’t already give you what you need. If not, and you think a widget streaming your blog or twitter or flickr or other is worth it, then invest.

      Again, I have noi

      Read More »Make you own Widget – And More – Easy

      Productivity: Remember The Milk!

        I am loving RTM.

        I will admit it now. I am a list-maker. I am a BIG list-maker. I make mega lists and they get so big I get overwhelmed and get lost in the volume of what has to be done when.

        Robert Plank has tried to get me to stick to the FOUR THINGS philosophy.

        I’ve tried lots of to-do list systems, the egg-timer method, the pomadoro technique, Getting Things Done and all types of productivity systems like Franklin Covey, Priority Management and more.

        Here’s what I know: ALL the systems work. It’s just that we (I) do not work the system! And hence we get out of control quickly, forget things, procrastinate, end up in a time crunch and don’t get enough done. You know the story.

        Well, I rediscovered Remember The Milk after flirting with it years ago. And IRead More »Productivity: Remember The Milk!

        WordPress + Akismet + Server

          One of those frustrating issues that crop up when you are on a server behind a firewall is the inability to configure Akismet in WordPress.

          Instructions are simple and involve editing the akismet.php file.

          Here’s how to do this properly:

          You may need to modify the wp-config.php file – check with your webhost.

          Irrespective of the server your host is running, you will need to edit the akismet.php file as follows:

          1. find the following line (around line 117)

          2. highlight all of the information between

          “// Returns array with headers in $response[0] and body in $response[1]”

          and

          “// filter handler used to return a spam result to pre_comment_approved function akismet_result_spam( $approved ) {”

          Be very careful in selecting the code – it’s easy to get that wrong! Here’s an image of the section of the akismet.php file to replace –

          3. replace that section with this…

          function akismet_http_post($request, $host, $path, $port = 80, $ip=null){         global $wp_version; $akismet_version = constant(‘AKISMET_VERSION’);         $args =Read More »WordPress + Akismet + Server

          How To Be More Productive, Part 4

            Ok, so my notes from the Helen Raptoplous call have identified:

            1. each day do four things you can complete towards your main current project
            2. then do the regular things you need to do consistently – daily, weekly, monthly activities
            3. then, if scheduled, do your block period of focused attention on a big project
            4. finally, if scheduled, take the day to plan, flesh out ideas or build systems

            That’s kind of the priority order of undertaking actions every day to progress.

            A key plank in this methodology (in my view in any time management or productive endeavour) is to have accountability.

            Robert Plank introduced us to this concept in one of his courses where he encouraged us to set up an accountability membership site. The idea was to buddy up with someone, declare your fourRead More »How To Be More Productive, Part 4