WordPress Tips

Here are some small tips you can use to make your WordPress site a bit more secure and slightly increase performance.  Make sure the version of WordPress you’re running is the most recent version.  This will ensure any security vulnerabilities found in the Content Management System will be addressed.

To perform an in-place upgrade of WordPress:

1) Log into WordPress as the admin user.

2) On the Dashboard, it should say WordPress x.x.x is available!  Click on the Please update now link.

3) Click the Update Now button.

4) Finished!

Alternatively, you can perform a manual upgrade by:

1) Instead of clicking the Upgrade Now button, click Download x.x.x

2) Extract the .zip file’s contents.

3) Upload the files using FTP, matching the same directory structure.

4) Once you refresh the admin screen in the browser, you should get an Update WordPress Database button.  Click on it and then the Continue button to complete the process.

You can also add an extra layer of security for the admin section.  Ruslan’s Blog shows you how.

According to IIS7 Manager, you can improve the performance a bit by moving the index.php file to the top of the Default Document list.

I also suggest you disable Directory Browsing.

Take note that any changes you make through IIS7 Manager will be written to your web.config file, so you should always make a backup of it before proceeding.