The final step in my WordPress/Apache optimization was to look at mod_expires. The Apache mode_expires module is used to tell a browser how long it can cache the page. With expiration enabled a browser will refresh a page from it’s local cache rather than the server, at least until the page expires. On my site the pages a relatively static, they may change when a comment is added but that’s about it. The pictures and graphics will almost never change. So I’ll give regular pages a fairly short cache time [...] Read the rest »
Apache mod_deflate with WordPress
To continue along with my Apache experimentation I decided to enable Apache mod_deflate on my server. All I run is WordPress and I probably won’t gain much of an increase over enabling compression in WP Super Cache. But at least this way I won’t be limited to the plugin and WordPress. I’m running Apache 2 on Ubuntu 8.10 Server and the configuration was a breeze. Why use compression"? To save bandwidth for myself and visitors, and with less download time it means faster performance. The /etc/apache2/mods-enabled/deflate.conf file contains the line: [...] Read the rest »
Setting Up SPF and Sender ID in Google Apps
I use Google App for Your Domain for my email, both my personal email and as email for the websites I run. I decided it was finally time to set up Sender Policy Framework (SPF) records and Sender ID. For differences between SPF and Sender ID you can read this. While they aren’t the same, the syntax and similarities make the steps for setting up each identical for our purposes. What is SPF? From the OpenSPF website: Even more precisely, SPFv1 allows the owner of a domain to specify their [...] Read the rest »
MYSQL / WordPress Database Backup
While my server image gets backed up daily by Slicehost, and my web files get backed up daily by me, there’s a potential gap in my WordPress database backup strategy. I back it up whenever I think of it but since it’s a manual process it’s done less and less frequently. If my database gets corrupt my only option is to restore the last server image unless I happened to do a WordPress backup recently. While pretty quick, it’s also a bit drastic. So it’s time to remedy the situation. [...] Read the rest »
Favorite WordPress Plugins: WP Super Cache
There’s a few WordPress plugins that I just can’t live without. I like (and need) them so much that I’ve contributed to the plugin author to encourage them to keep developing the plugin. There’s only a few of these and the first I’ll write about is WP Super Cache. As the name implies it’s a caching plugin for WordPress. The plugin setup may be a little more complicated than other plugins you’ve installed. This depends on the security settings of your webhost. The included readme, along with the website does [...] Read the rest »
The OS Quest Trail Log #39: Long Lingering Mistake Edition
Today wasn’t a good day for site uptime stats. After about 2 months of continuous server uptime there were a couple planned and one unplanned outages. I decided to upgrade from Ubuntu 8.04 to Ubuntu 8.10. Yea, I know 9.04 was just released but I don’t want to be that bleeding edge on my server and 8.10 had some features that would make my life a bit easier. Besides, the path to 9.04 goes through 8.10 anyway. The upgrade itself was relatively painless and the downtime was limited to about [...] Read the rest »
Apache Modules Needed For A WordPress Site
Continuing along my recent WordPress theme but veering into Apache Server territory I took a look at the Apache modules that are required for my WordPress site. I’m running WordPress 2.7.1 on Apache 2. It’s pretty basic, just WordPress and some plugins, not heavy on file downloads or streaming. I’m hoping to save some memory on my server so I’ll disable the Apache modules that I don’t need. This only applies if you control your own server, if not you can save some pain and move along now. Modules Needed [...] Read the rest »
Windows Live Writer WordPress Theme Detection Error
Might as well continue the WordPress theme with a quick post. I use Windows Live Writer for most of my posts. I’ve been setting up a new site but when I went to add it to Windows Live Writer it gave me an error that it couldn’t detect the style. I could see the temporary post appear and disappear so I knew it had access. I was also able to post. Looking in the Windows Live Writer Log (available through Help –> About) indicated it was timing out. With my [...] Read the rest »
No Longer A Mozy User
I’ve been a Mozy fan and user for a couple of years and had a paid subscription, at least until I recently cancelled it. At some point my backups stopped working. My tech support experience didn’t go well. While working on the issue I was backing things up to Amazon S3 (via Jungle Disk). After all the files were backed up to S3 and the Mozy issue remained unresolved so I cancelled the subscription. I will admit I didn’t dedicate a great deal of time to the problem although I [...] Read the rest »
WordPress Administration Over SSL
Since this is my third straight WordPress related post it’s probably obvious that I spent some time digging into WordPress this weekend. This feature (WordPress Administration over SSL) has been in WordPress awhile and was available via plugins for some time before that. Administration over SSL encrypts the traffic between the browser and the server so no one can look in on your traffic. In the case of WordPress this means no one can pluck your password off the network. Without SSL your password is in clear text and can [...] Read the rest »
