Blogs About Hosting » News & Updates http://blogs-about.com Quality, Affordable Blog Hosting and Blog Design Services Fri, 25 Sep 2009 23:02:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 [UPDATED] Early versions of WordPress under attack – upgrade to 2.8.4 today! http://blogs-about.com/09/2009/early-versions-of-wordpress-under-attack-upgrade-to-2-8-4-today/ http://blogs-about.com/09/2009/early-versions-of-wordpress-under-attack-upgrade-to-2-8-4-today/#comments Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:31:12 +0000 Lisa Sabin-Wilson http://blogs-about.com/?p=257 To all our clients (and anyone else who happens upon this post) who are running the WordPress software on their website: Upgrade now to the latest version 2.8.4. There appears to be a current and ongoing attack against older versions of WordPress. It could be a looooooooooooong weekend for us!

As we read on Mashable:

The warning comes from Lorelle on WordPress after it was discovered that a nasty attack is exploiting security holes in previous versions of the blogging software, creating a new “hidden” Administrator account and getting right down to the database level. These attacks are said to be “growing by the hour”. Lorelle writes:

There are two clues that your WordPress site has been

…

]]> To all our clients (and anyone else who happens upon this post) who are running the WordPress software on their website: Upgrade now to the latest version 2.8.4. There appears to be a current and ongoing attack against older versions of WordPress. It could be a looooooooooooong weekend for us!

As we read on Mashable:

The warning comes from Lorelle on WordPress after it was discovered that a nasty attack is exploiting security holes in previous versions of the blogging software, creating a new “hidden” Administrator account and getting right down to the database level. These attacks are said to be “growing by the hour”. Lorelle writes:

There are two clues that your WordPress site has been attacked.

There are strange additions to the pretty permalinks, such as example.com/category/post-title/%&(%7B$%7Beval(base64_decode($_SERVER%5BHTTP_REFERER%5D))%7D%7D|.+)&%/. The keywords are “eval” and “base64_decode.”

The second clue is that a “back door” was created by a “hidden” Administrator. Check your site users for “Administrator (2)” or a name you do not recognize. You will probably be unable to access that account.

We are strongly encouraging our clients to upgrade their version of WordPress to make sure you are using the latest version of 2.8.4.  If you don’t know what version you are currently using, login to your WordPress dashboard and if you are running an older version of WordPress, you’ll see a notice at the top that looks like this:

Upgrade to WordPress 2.8.4

Click the “Please update now” link to begin the upgrade process.

For any of you that are using really old versions of WordPress (versions 2.5 and lower) a manual upgrade will need to be done.  Instructions on manually upgrading your WordPress site using FTP can be found in the WordPress Codex here: WordPress Upgrade Extended.  If you need assistance with your manual upgrade – you can contact us for help/support by submitting a ticket in our Help Center.

For anyone who may have already experienced the attack – it’s going to be long Labor Day weekend for you, too!  You will need to export your all your content with the built-in WordPress export, uninstall and reinstall WordPress and re-import the content. It’s a nasty attack that goes all the way into the database, so exporting the database will result in exporting the hacked code too.

In short:  for those who have not yet been affected: upgrade to 2.8.4.  For those who have been, follow the instructions above to fix your site (you can contact us if you are a hosting client of ours)

For those who are already running 2.8.4 – Horray! Enjoy your Labor Day weekend!

[UPDATE] - Check out a great post by the WordPress.Org team on how to keep your WordPress secure – - a stick in time, saves nine (A/K/A/ – always upgrade your WordPress installation with the latest version)

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]]> http://blogs-about.com/09/2009/early-versions-of-wordpress-under-attack-upgrade-to-2-8-4-today/feed/ 0 PINKI Server – Critical Hardware Update **Resolved** http://blogs-about.com/08/2009/pinki-server-critical-hardware-update-resolved/ http://blogs-about.com/08/2009/pinki-server-critical-hardware-update-resolved/#comments Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:10:56 +0000 Lisa Sabin-Wilson http://blogs-about.com/?p=252 This notice is for clients on the PINKI (76.74.236.95) Server only *

Yesterday, 8/23/09, we experienced a sudden (without warning) hard drive failure on the Pinki server. Usually, we get notifications that the hardware is having some sort of issue that we need to look into, which gives us time to diagnose and troubleshoot. This time, however, there were no warnings – it just happened without notice…one minute the drive was functioning, the next minute not. Machines are not infallible – - and web servers are machines, after all. It’s frustrating and scary all at the same time!

We discovered this problem late yesterday afternoon and immediately went to work with our DataCenter (and hardware providers) at ServerBeach and…

]]> This notice is for clients on the PINKI (76.74.236.95) Server only *

Yesterday, 8/23/09, we experienced a sudden (without warning) hard drive failure on the Pinki server. Usually, we get notifications that the hardware is having some sort of issue that we need to look into, which gives us time to diagnose and troubleshoot. This time, however, there were no warnings – it just happened without notice…one minute the drive was functioning, the next minute not. Machines are not infallible – - and web servers are machines, after all. It’s frustrating and scary all at the same time!

We discovered this problem late yesterday afternoon and immediately went to work with our DataCenter (and hardware providers) at ServerBeach and commissioned a new server. The great news is that we do full adn complete backups of all client accounts on a nightly basis and store them on a separate drive for safekeeping. Once the new server was up and running with a new copy of the Operating System – we began the account restore and things are about 99.9% back to normal right now.

We do continue to work on the new server configurations, however your sites are in working order at this time. Some people have reported a few items that are off – - a couple missing posts, template tweaks that are not there anymore, etc. We are currently working on those issues on an individual basis.

Because our own web site was down during this time, as well – - we’ve been providing updates on our Twitter account as much as we possibly could during this outage. If you do not follow us on Twitter – it’s probably a good idea to do so at times like these: http://twitter.com/BlogsAbout

We want to thank everyone for their patience, and for those of you who write and Twittered words of support and encouragement – we are grateful. We realize that times like these are frustrating for everyone – including ourselves. So, thank you for your patience and understanding during this time. PLease know that we continue to work on smaller issues on a case by case basis and are getting through them as quickly as we can.

One thing that we have noticed, for WordPress users – when you go to update a plugin, or update your WordPress installation – WordPress is asking you for your FTP login information. It has never done this before and this is a function of our server configuration that we are working to resolve. In the meantime, you can just input the information as requested – or, there is a work around for individual sites that you can read about in the WordPress Support forums here: http://wordpress.org/support/topic/242686#post-1180641 (RESOLVED)

* – If you do not know what server your account is currently on – you can locate the IP number of your server in the left menu of your CPanel. Compare your IP number with the three I’ve listed above to find out which server your account is currently hosted on. Or, leave a comment on this post and I’ll do my best to help you determine your server assignment. Thanks!

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]]> http://blogs-about.com/08/2009/pinki-server-critical-hardware-update-resolved/feed/ 0 New Billing and Support System http://blogs-about.com/05/2009/new-billing-and-support-system/ http://blogs-about.com/05/2009/new-billing-and-support-system/#comments Wed, 13 May 2009 09:19:22 +0000 Lisa Sabin-Wilson http://blogs-about.com/?p=249 We are very excited to roll out our new billing and support system for our existing clients, and new ones, as well. The really nice thing about it, for us and for you, is that account creation is completely automated with instant activation for all new accounts.

For our existing clients who are used to our old Client Desk ticket system, we now have a new Client Area where you can:

  • Manage your billing and invoices
  • Submit support tickets
  • Directly login to your web hosting Control Panel
  • Join our NEW affiliate program and earn 5% on all payments your referred clients make for the lifetime of their account!
  • Access our knowledge base **Coming Soon**
  • Access our helpful

…

]]> We are very excited to roll out our new billing and support system for our existing clients, and new ones, as well. The really nice thing about it, for us and for you, is that account creation is completely automated with instant activation for all new accounts.

For our existing clients who are used to our old Client Desk ticket system, we now have a new Client Area where you can:

  • Manage your billing and invoices
  • Submit support tickets
  • Directly login to your web hosting Control Panel
  • Join our NEW affiliate program and earn 5% on all payments your referred clients make for the lifetime of their account!
  • Access our knowledge base **Coming Soon**
  • Access our helpful downloadable files to include free blog themes for your WordPress blog **coming soon**
  • Access tutorials and helpful resource links **Coming Soon**

All of our existing clients have been migrated into the new system and you should have recieved an email with your login information for the new client area.  The emails were sent to the email address that you have set up as your contact email in your Control Panel.  If you did not recieve the email or do not know what your login/password is, you can visit the Client Area login page and request a password reminder – - be sure to use the same email address that you provided to us when you initially created your account.

Eventually, we will be cancelling all existing PayPal hosting subscriptions for existing clients, as all billing will be handled via the new system.  We expect this to happen by June 1.

For now, we will continue to use our existing/old Client Desk support ticket system through June 1 to answer your questions about the new system, but as of June 1, 2009 – the old Client Desk support ticket system will redirect to the new system.  If you have questions or need clarification – visit that Client Desk and submit a ticket and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have.

This new system puts everything you need to manage your hosting account, data/files, billing and support all in one convienent place!  We think you will find it very easy to work with!

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]]> http://blogs-about.com/05/2009/new-billing-and-support-system/feed/ 0 Server Migration 12/13 – 12/14 2008 http://blogs-about.com/12/2008/server-migration-1213-1214-2008/ http://blogs-about.com/12/2008/server-migration-1213-1214-2008/#comments Sat, 13 Dec 2008 20:43:27 +0000 Lisa Sabin-Wilson http://blogs-about.com/?p=223 Server Alerts: for those clients whose accounts are on the following servers (*):

  • OZ - 72.51.46.32
  • TALIS - 72.51.38.154
  • BUBBA - 72.51.34.113

We are performing a server migration to new, more powerful server system.  Skipping all the geek speak – basically it means more RAM (memory), more processors (CPU) – which means better, faster and more powerful, overall.  Accounts backups to an offsite location have been completed and we expect very minimal (if any) downtime for accounts on those three servers.  If you experience any problems with your site, please understand that the server migration is necessary to upgrade the equipment across all our server systems to better serve our clients and improve performance, and ultimately your hosting…

]]> Server Alerts: for those clients whose accounts are on the following servers (*):

  • OZ - 72.51.46.32
  • TALIS - 72.51.38.154
  • BUBBA - 72.51.34.113

We are performing a server migration to new, more powerful server system.  Skipping all the geek speak – basically it means more RAM (memory), more processors (CPU) – which means better, faster and more powerful, overall.  Accounts backups to an offsite location have been completed and we expect very minimal (if any) downtime for accounts on those three servers.  If you experience any problems with your site, please understand that the server migration is necessary to upgrade the equipment across all our server systems to better serve our clients and improve performance, and ultimately your hosting experience.  The migration will be taking place in the wee hours of the night/morning – we chose these times because they are the lowest in terms of web traffic and readership (when *most* people are sleeping..except me, I’m always awake when the rest of the world sleeps.  heh)

Currently, we are having an unrelated hardware problem on the TALIS server that our techs are working on, as I type this.  The migration of the accounts off TALIS to the new server will remedy the problem – however, we are working on getting TALIS fixed to remedy server load issues in the meantime.  As always, we appreciate your patience and your support!

Over the next 24 – 48 hours, our techs will be prioritizing questions and requests for support on an ‘urgent‘ basis only.   Questions and support requests requiring urgent attention will be attended to immediately.  General inquiries, requests for design assistance, upgrades to software, etc will be attended to starting Monday morning.  This weekend, our focus is on making the migration go smoothly for everyone and emerging on Monday morning with some powerful new systems over here!

* – If you do not know what server your account is currently on – you can locate the IP number of your server in the left menu of your CPanel.  Compare your IP number with the three I’ve listed above to find out which server your account is currently hosted on.  Or, leave a comment on this post and I’ll do my best to help you determine your server assignment.  Thanks!

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]]> http://blogs-about.com/12/2008/server-migration-1213-1214-2008/feed/ 0 Site Uptime Monitoring Added http://blogs-about.com/10/2008/site-uptime-monitoring-added/ http://blogs-about.com/10/2008/site-uptime-monitoring-added/#comments Mon, 20 Oct 2008 13:00:50 +0000 Lisa Sabin-Wilson http://blogs-about.com/?p=179 I did something on our site that I should have done a long, long, long time ago! I added a site uptime monitoring tool that will allow our clients (and potential clients!) to check up on the progress of our servers! The service is provided by SiteUptime and you can view server stats here.

We currently have 5 of our shared servers we are currently monitoring and good question might be… “How do I know which server my account is on?” – which would be an excellent question! The servers on the Site Uptime monitoring page are listed by name and IP address:

  • KIWI – 76.74.159.114
  • JINGLES – 66.135.55.41
  • BUBBA – 72.51.34.113
  • TALIS – 72.51.38.154
  • OZ

…

]]> I did something on our site that I should have done a long, long, long time ago! I added a site uptime monitoring tool that will allow our clients (and potential clients!) to check up on the progress of our servers! The service is provided by SiteUptime and you can view server stats here.

We currently have 5 of our shared servers we are currently monitoring and good question might be… “How do I know which server my account is on?” – which would be an excellent question! The servers on the Site Uptime monitoring page are listed by name and IP address:

  • KIWI – 76.74.159.114
  • JINGLES – 66.135.55.41
  • BUBBA – 72.51.34.113
  • TALIS – 72.51.38.154
  • OZ – 72.51.46.32
    It is the string of numbers to the right of the Server Name that you need to worry about. The IP of the server you are on is listed in your account CPanel, in the left menu. Find that IP – compare it to one of the 5 listed above and BINGO! You know which one you are on! Feel free to bookmark our uptime monitoring page so you can visit it and check up on our regular progress of uptime! Those uptime stats are refreshed every 5 minutes!

    Small triva that most of you don’t know: The names of our servers: Kiwi, Oz, Bubba, Talis, Jingles – those are all names of our pets. Yes, we’re pet people! We have three birds and three cats – so far!

    Kiwi – our conure parrot; she recently died after choking on a seed :(
    Oz – our Military Mackaw
    Jingles – our Chattering Lorikeet
    Bubba – our adopted kitten from Alabama
    Talis – our Abysynnian cat

    But there are only 5 servers, you ask?? Yes – we recently adopted a Pionus Parrot named Pinki who doesn’t have a server named after her yet! All in good time, Pinksters! :D

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]]> http://blogs-about.com/10/2008/site-uptime-monitoring-added/feed/ 0 New design launch and some great new features! http://blogs-about.com/10/2008/new-design-launch-and-some-great-new-features/ http://blogs-about.com/10/2008/new-design-launch-and-some-great-new-features/#comments Mon, 20 Oct 2008 03:40:06 +0000 Lisa Sabin-Wilson http://blogs-about.com/?p=157 Today, we’ve launched the new layout and design of our site – we hope you like it! We’ve always had a blog on this site – - but only used it for updates and news. Now, we intend on using it a great deal and blogging about topics that we think our clients may find useful – - especially in the areas of web hosting, WordPress and other blogging platform information, blogging technologies, social media and anything else we can think of to make managing and maintaining your site more fun and easy! We’re open to recommendations from YOU, our clients, on what information you would like to see here. We’re all ears!

In addition to the new design and…

]]> Today, we’ve launched the new layout and design of our site – we hope you like it! We’ve always had a blog on this site – - but only used it for updates and news. Now, we intend on using it a great deal and blogging about topics that we think our clients may find useful – - especially in the areas of web hosting, WordPress and other blogging platform information, blogging technologies, social media and anything else we can think of to make managing and maintaining your site more fun and easy! We’re open to recommendations from YOU, our clients, on what information you would like to see here. We’re all ears!

In addition to the new design and layout – we’ve launched our CPanel Video Tutorial Section where you will find very helpful video guides on how to do all sorts of things with your hosting account, via your CPanel. Video guides include information on:

  • Email Creation and Management
  • FTP Account Management
  • MySQL database creation and management
  • Using the File Manager
  • Password Protect Directories
  • IP Deny Manager
  • …and more!

We realize that not everyone is a ‘guru’ when it comes to managing and maintaining a website and/or blog – so we hope that these videos teach you how to do some of the back end administration stuff that needs doing, saves you some time and helps you along your way!

As we announced in an earlier post, you can follow BlogsAbout on Twitter – our Twitter will always update when there are new posts made here, but more than just post announcements – we just like to Twitter..and we’d like to see you Twitter, too – - so, add us and we’ll add you!

We hope you like some of the new changes around here! We’re working behind the scenes to bring additional features to this site, and to your accounts – - things like an affiliate program, more video tutorials and we are currently at work at an integrated billing system that will allow our clients to manage their billing and add/edit features to your account all through your own CPanel! We’re busy bees – but we like it that way!

Hoping you all had a GREAT weekend!

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]]> http://blogs-about.com/10/2008/new-design-launch-and-some-great-new-features/feed/ 1 Follow BlogsAbout on Twitter! http://blogs-about.com/10/2008/follow-blogsabout-on-twitter/ http://blogs-about.com/10/2008/follow-blogsabout-on-twitter/#comments Sat, 18 Oct 2008 01:07:41 +0000 Lisa Sabin-Wilson http://blogs-about.com/?p=38 Yes – we’ve finally joined the Twitter revolution over here! You can follow us on Twitter here: BlogsAbout. We’d love to see you there!

PLUS! We’re gearing up for a completely new site design around here — it should be launched pretty soon. We’re looking to make this site more useable, informative and beneficial to our clients and visitors!

Keep updated via RSS!

Related Posts:

]]> Yes – we’ve finally joined the Twitter revolution over here! You can follow us on Twitter here: BlogsAbout. We’d love to see you there!

PLUS! We’re gearing up for a completely new site design around here — it should be launched pretty soon. We’re looking to make this site more useable, informative and beneficial to our clients and visitors!

Keep updated via RSS!

Related Posts:

]]> http://blogs-about.com/10/2008/follow-blogsabout-on-twitter/feed/ 0 Welcome Clients from Weblog Design Studios http://blogs-about.com/03/2007/welcome-clients-from-weblog-design-studios/ http://blogs-about.com/03/2007/welcome-clients-from-weblog-design-studios/#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2007 22:03:30 +0000 Lisa Sabin-Wilson http://blogs-about.com/2007/03/26/welcome-clients-from-weblog-design-studios/ We’d like to extend a warm welcome to the clients from Weblog Design Studios! As you have all heard by now, clients who were previously hosted with Weblog Design Studios were transferred to our servers here at Blogs About Hosting over the weekend. Weblog Design Studios had some severe issues with their servers last week and Danalynn and I worked out a hosting solution to make sure that you no longer experienced an interruption in services for your website.

Within the next 72 hours, you will each receive a personal email from us explaining our services and to set up your billing arrangements with us.

In the meantime, if you have any questions at all about our services, or…

]]> We’d like to extend a warm welcome to the clients from Weblog Design Studios! As you have all heard by now, clients who were previously hosted with Weblog Design Studios were transferred to our servers here at Blogs About Hosting over the weekend. Weblog Design Studios had some severe issues with their servers last week and Danalynn and I worked out a hosting solution to make sure that you no longer experienced an interruption in services for your website.

Within the next 72 hours, you will each receive a personal email from us explaining our services and to set up your billing arrangements with us.

In the meantime, if you have any questions at all about our services, or need technical assistance with your site – please visit our Support Center to file a help ticket with our technicians – the will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Our Support Center does require that you register a user account — the username and password you use for your CPanel will NOT work in the Support Center, for security purposes – we do need to keep those two accounts separate. So please register an account there and let us know how we can assist you.

More importantly, we’re thrilled to have you on board!

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]]> http://blogs-about.com/03/2007/welcome-clients-from-weblog-design-studios/feed/ 0 Wordpress for Dummies http://blogs-about.com/12/2006/wordpress-for-dummies/ http://blogs-about.com/12/2006/wordpress-for-dummies/#comments Sun, 17 Dec 2006 06:55:35 +0000 Lisa Sabin-Wilson http://blogs-about.com/2006/12/17/wordpress-for-dummies/ We are very happy, and proud, to annouce that our very own Lisa Sabin-Wilson has been asked to author “Wordpress for Dummies” – due to be available in stores in August 2007. The “.. for Dummies” books are a product of Wiley Publishing. Lisa’s experience and knowledge of the Wordpress blogging software will make this book a ‘must have’ for anyone with a desire to learn more about working with Wordpress. You can read her own announcement on her Design Blog at E.Webscapes. If you’re interested in receiving updates on the progress and release of the book – please visit her Design Blog and subscribe to her RSS Feed

Congratulations, Lisa!!

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…

]]> We are very happy, and proud, to annouce that our very own Lisa Sabin-Wilson has been asked to author “Wordpress for Dummies” – due to be available in stores in August 2007. The “.. for Dummies” books are a product of Wiley Publishing. Lisa’s experience and knowledge of the Wordpress blogging software will make this book a ‘must have’ for anyone with a desire to learn more about working with Wordpress. You can read her own announcement on her Design Blog at E.Webscapes. If you’re interested in receiving updates on the progress and release of the book – please visit her Design Blog and subscribe to her RSS Feed

Congratulations, Lisa!!

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]]> http://blogs-about.com/12/2006/wordpress-for-dummies/feed/ 0 New Hosting Packages Rollout! http://blogs-about.com/08/2006/new-hosting-packages-rollout/ http://blogs-about.com/08/2006/new-hosting-packages-rollout/#comments Sat, 12 Aug 2006 17:30:17 +0000 Lisa Sabin-Wilson http://blogs-about.com/2006/08/12/new-hosting-packages-rollout/ We’re thrilled to annouce the launch of a new design at Blogs About Hosting! Along with the new look – we’ve rolled out our new and improved hosting packages, available immediately. We’ve up’d the ante on all the good stuff – while at the same time, kept the prices the exact same as before.

More stuff. Same cost. Gotta love it!

How much more stuff? WAY MORE bandwidth, disk space, add on domains (ability to run multiple domains on one account), subdomains, MYSQL databases and more!

Why are we doing this? Because we enjoy the heck out of this job – and have a boatload of excellent clients that we want to keep happy. As technology changes – we’ve…

]]> We’re thrilled to annouce the launch of a new design at Blogs About Hosting! Along with the new look – we’ve rolled out our new and improved hosting packages, available immediately. We’ve up’d the ante on all the good stuff – while at the same time, kept the prices the exact same as before.

More stuff. Same cost. Gotta love it!

How much more stuff? WAY MORE bandwidth, disk space, add on domains (ability to run multiple domains on one account), subdomains, MYSQL databases and more!

Why are we doing this? Because we enjoy the heck out of this job – and have a boatload of excellent clients that we want to keep happy. As technology changes – we’ve seen an increase in the need for resources – with the popularity of podcasting, vblogging, etc – the need for resources increases and we want to keep up with the flow. (not too mention the need for extra bandwidth with the 2008 elections just right around the corner – you polibloggers are gonna need it!)

Check out the new packages here. If you’re an existing client – your package will change over the next week . . but your price won’t change! Existing clients can submit any questions by opening a help ticket in our Support Center.

Blogs About Hosting is more than a web host – - we have a focus on bloggers, blog software, tools, resources, etc. Along with your account, our clients receive a free installation of Wordpress. We take it a step further and provide support for the use of Wordpress in our Support Center for clients who host their blogs with us.

Even better – all of our Blogs About Hosting clients receive a 10% discount on all design fees here at E.Webscapes. It’s a nice way to say “Thanks!” – not too mention, keeping all of your blog needs under one roof makes it nice, tidy and easy for you, so you can keep your focus on changing the world – one blog post at a time.

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]]> http://blogs-about.com/08/2006/new-hosting-packages-rollout/feed/ 0