Michele Butcher provides tips for maintaining a WordPress site once it has been launched. Key recommendations include regularly backing up the site, updating plugins and themes, and using security plugins to protect the site from hackers. Additional tips include using strong and unique passwords, enabling two-factor authentication when available, and being wary of public WiFi networks without a VPN. Regular maintenance such as backups, updates, and security measures are important to keep a WordPress site safe and functioning properly over time.

1. MICHELE BUTCHER
CantSpeakGeek.com
@michele_butcher
I HAVE MY WORDPRESS SITE…
NOW WHAT?

2. MICHELE BUTCHER
➤ Support Guru for Give
➤ Support Engineer for Yoast
➤ Geek behind Can’t Speak Geek
➤ Beginners and Intermediate
WordPress Instructor
➤ Lead Organizer for Southern
Illinois WordPress Meetup
@michele_butcher

3. WEBSITES ARE NOT
BUILD THEM AND
FORGET THEM!
@michele_butcher

4. LEARN THE STEPS TO CARE
FOR YOUR SITE ONCE THE
DESIGNER/DEVELOPER TURNS
IT OVER TO YOU.
@michele_butcher

5. IF YOU ARE WRITING YOUR OWN
CONTENT, BE COMFORTABLE WITH
THE DASHBOARD WHEN YOU MAKE
THE DECISION TO DO IT ALONE.
Ask for tutorials or search the web to learn before you try to do it alone.
@michele_butcher

6. THERE ARE SIMPLE STEPS
EVERYONE WITH A
WORDPRESS SITE SHOULD DO.
@michele_butcher@michele_butcher

7. THE FIRST THING TO
REMEMBER IS THAT IF YOU DO
NOT CLICK SAVE AT THE END, IT
DID NOT HAPPEN.
Save and save often
@michele_butcher

8. EQUALLY IMPORTANT IS
BACKUPS.
@michele_butcher

9. BACKUP AND BACKUP OFTEN!
➤ Always save to someplace OTHER than your server
➤ Save them to Dropbox, AWS, email, or your local machine
➤ Have them scheduled to be made daily or at least weekly
@michele_butcher

10. BACKUP PLUGINS I RECOMMEND
➤ Backup Buddy
➤ UpDraftPlus
➤ BackWPUp
@michele_butcher

11. UPDATES ARE
IMPORTANT!
Update core. Update themes update plugins!
The biggest reasons of updates is typically security or feature
related.
The biggest source of nearly all hacks is due to lack of updating.
@michele_butcher

12. WHEN YOU SEE THE LITTLE RED
CIRCLE BESIDE THE DASHBOARD
BUTTON MEANS YOU HAVE
UPDATES NEEDING TO BE DONE
Always make a backup before you update for safe
measures.
@michele_butcher

13. WHEN IT COMES TO UPDATING IF YOU
USE ENVATO PRODUCTS (THEMEFOREST
AND CODECANYON) ALWAYS CHECK
THE BOX IN THE DOWNLOADS TO BE
NOTIFIED OF UPDATES.
That is the only way you will know if any of their products need to be updated.
This is why the RevSlider infection was so widespread. Many did not even know the
plugin was built into their theme.
@michele_butcher

14. SECURITY IS AN
IMPORTANT PIECE OF
MAINTENANCE.
@michele_butcher

15. IT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO SECURE
ALL THE THINGS BEFORE SOMETHING
HAPPENS!
MANY HAVE YET TO LEARN THIS!
Every single day hackers find new ways to get your
information.
Todays features are tomorrow’s vulnerabilities.
Stop them before they stop you
@michele_butcher

16. HOW DO THEY GET IN?
➤ They guess your login information
➤ Denial of Service Attack (DDoS)
➤ Through a file in a theme, plugin, or anything on your server
where they found an exploit
➤ Through your FTP and/or cPanel configuration
➤ They guess your login information
@michele_butcher

17. THERE ARE SOME SIMPLE
STEPS TO KEEP THE HACKERS
OUT OF YOUR WEBSITE.
@michele_butcher

18. NEVER EVER NEVER USE
“ADMIN” AS A USERNAME OR
“PASSWORD” AS PASSWORD ON
ANY OF THE THINGS. NEVER!!!!
Any questions?
Adm1n and Pa55w0rd do not count either!
@michele_butcher

19. ONLY GIVE USERS THE
ACCESS THEY NEED
Just because they want to be an admin does not
mean they should.
Guest bloggers should rarely every be anything
more than a contributor.
Sometimes they do not need access to all the things
@michele_butcher

20. IF IT IS A TEMPORARY LOGIN, DELETE THE
USER WHEN THEY ARE DONE DOING ALL OF
THEIR THINGS
If they do have posts, you can convert them to
different users or make them a subscriber with
limited access.
@michele_butcher

21. SET UP FILE DETECTION
TO MAKE SURE NOTHING
EVER SNEAKS IN.
Many security plugins like iThemes Security and
WordFence will alert you when files have been
changed
@michele_butcher

22. SECURITY PLUGINS I RECOMMEND
➤ iThemes Security (Free and Pro version
➤ Sucuri Firewall
➤ WordFence Security
➤ Jetpack with Brute Protect and Vault Press
@michele_butcher

23. ONLY KEEP THE PLUGINS
AND THEMES YOU HAVE
ACTIVE ON YOUR SITE.
An uninstalled plugin or theme is not a potential
vulnerability.
Use the plugins repo favorites option to keep a list
of your favorite plugins
@michele_butcher

24. MALWARE SCANNING? DO I NEED IT?
➤ Google Webmaster Tools
➤ Sucuri Scanner (Built in iThemes Security now)
➤ VirusTotal
If you feel your site could be infected, first do a malware scan.
There are also plugins that can scan your site manually.
@michele_butcher

25. WHEN YOU DECIDE TO
MAKE CHANGES TO YOUR
SITE THERE ARE SOME
THINGS TO CONSIDER.
@michele_butcher

26. DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE
WHEN LOOKING AT NEW
THEMES AND PLUGINS. DO
NOT PICK ONE JUST BECAUSE
IT IS SHINY AND PRETTY.
@michele_butcher

27. DO NOT ADD EVERY THEME YOU THINK IS
PRETTY WHEN YOU DECIDE TO CHANGE A
THEME.
ONLY KEEP THE THEME YOU ARE USING AND
ONE BACKUP THEME ON YOUR SITE.
The more themes that are on a site, the more open
chances you have to a vulnerability
@michele_butcher

28. MISCELLANEOUS THINGS
YOUR DESIGNER OR
DEVELOPER MIGHT NOT
HAVE TOLD YOU…
@michele_butcher

29. SEO…
SEO Plugins can aid in your ranking on search engines
➤ Yoast SEO
➤ All in One SEO
@michele_butcher

30. DON'T EVER LET YOUR
SITE GET TOO LONELY.
No one knows your website better than you do.
Check on the front end just as much as your
backend.
@michele_butcher

31. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS
TAKE TO THE WEB
There are many resources you have at your fingertips that can
help you do more with your website.
➤ codex.WordPress.org
➤ WordPress forums for themes, plugins, and core
➤ Twitter
➤ Facebook
➤ Third Party websites
@michele_butcher

32. THERE IS MORE THAN
JUST WORDPRESS
SPECIFIC MAINTENANCE
YOU SHOULD DO.
@michele_butcher

33. ALWAYS USE COMPLEX
PASSWORDS ON ALL
LOGINS.
@michele_butcher

34. NEVER USE THE SAME
PASSWORD ON ALL
LOGINS.
THIS IS JUST BAD
PRACTICES!
@michele_butcher

35. NEVER EMAIL PASSWORDS!
PUT THEM IN A
TEXT DOCUMENT OR USE
A PASSWORD MANAGER
TO SEND THEM.
@michele_butcher

36. USE A PASSWORD KEEPER FOR ALL YOUR THINGS
➤ Last Pass
➤ One Password
➤ KeePass
@michele_butcher

37. IF ANY LOGIN HAS A TWO-
FACTOR AUTHENTICATION
OPTION, USE IT!
Two-Factor all the things
@michele_butcher

38. USE AN ANTI-VIRUS ON
ANY COMPUTER YOU USE
Use it on all the things.
Yes, even a Mac!
@michele_butcher

39. BE CONSCIOUS WHEN
USING PUBLIC WIFI
@michele_butcher

40. USE A VPN FOR WHEN USING PUBLIC WIFI
VPN’s I recommend are
➤ Cloak
➤ Torguard
➤ Site Social
➤ Hide My Ass
@michele_butcher

41. UPDATE!
UPDATE!
UPDATE!
Update all the things!
@michele_butcher

42. BACK EVERYTHING UP
AND BACK IT UP OFTEN!
No one wants to lose their information
stored on their computer.
➤ Bitcasa
➤ Caronbinte
➤ External Hard-drives
@michele_butcher

43. QUESTIONS?
@michele_butcher

44. THANK YOU!!!
Michele Butcher
CantSpeakGeek.com
@michele_butcher
Slides can be found at http://mlb.pw/wcmia2016