Tuesday, May 26, 2020

How Easy Is to Make the First Million?

The race of becoming the richest man and becoming a billionaire is now becoming faster than ever. Tech companies, influencers even teenagers and people in their early twenties are now becoming the head of fastest growing fortune five hundred countries. Formally, only CEOs of bigger companies were...

[ This is a content summary only. Visit our website https://ift.tt/1b4YgHQ for full links, other content, and more! ]

by Aabroo Saeed via Digital Information World

Explore Chartipedia

Explore Chartipedia is a landing page created to invite users to explore the Chartipedia platform – an online community for data visualization designers.


by csreladm via CSSREEL | CSS Website Awards | World best websites | website design awards | CSS Gallery

ASAP PLZ

ASAP PLZ is a retro game about working in marketing. Even though it was created for SEGA Genesis, it is fully playable in your browser.


by csreladm via CSSREEL | CSS Website Awards | World best websites | website design awards | CSS Gallery

PixelPink Designstudio Berlin

PixelPink is a Berlin-based design studio specialized in digital media and technology.


by csreladm via CSSREEL | CSS Website Awards | World best websites | website design awards | CSS Gallery

WordPress Secure Setup: Top Tips for Securing WP Admin

Welcome to the WordPress Secure Setup Guide. In this tutorial, I’ll show you a number of ways to secure the WordPress admin area. Before I show you these, consider whether the WordPress site has an SSL certificate.

An SSL connection helps secure any website and is recommended, especially for use on WordPress sites. 

 

This video is part of my course WordPress Secure Setup Guide. You can watch the entire course for free here on Envato Tuts+.

HTTP and HTTPS

u Forcing SSL Logins and SSL Admin Access

SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer. Essentially, it’s what makes the difference between HTTP and HTTPS when serving a website from a server. The S denotes that the connection is secure.

If you don't already have SSL set up on a WordPress installation, contact the web host, they’ll tell you what you need to do.

You can also follow our guide on how to secure your WordPress site with SSL.

When you have the SSL certificate set up and running on your site, the URL that you'll use for your site will go from HTTP to HTTPS. 

Now that you know S stands for secure, when you see HTTPS in the URL, you can be confident that you're browsing in a secure connection. 

Forcing SSL Using wp-config

Forcing SSL Using wp-config
Forcing SSL Using wp-config

A wise step to take is to activate a feature in WordPress that forces the connection to go over HTTPS whenever somebody is logging in and whenever they're in the admin area so that there's no unsecured access. 

The way to do this is by copying a little snippet of code to the the wp-config.php file. Copy the following line of code:

define('FORCE_SSL_ADMIN', true);

Now scroll all the way down to the bottom of your wp-config.php file, after the WP_DEBUG line here, pasting the code snippet in.

Once that code has been added, the only way to access the admin area will be through a secure connection. 

The next thing to consider is changing the location of the login page. If you look in the URL bar, you’ll see this login page is at wp-login.php. This is the default for all WordPress websites.

Change the Name of wp-login

Change the Name of WP-Login
Change the Name of WP-Login

You’ll recall that brute force attacks may be used to hack their way into the WordPress admin area. Part of that automated process is to examine the domain name. The attack just adds wp-login.php to the end of it. Then, if a login page is found, the script  knows exactly where the WordPress login page is, and it will begin the brute force attack. 

One way of preventing such an automated brute-force attack is to change the name of the login page to something non-default, thus changing the URL. 

Again, this is achieved using a plugin. 

Searching for a plugin
Searching for a plugin

In the WordPress admin panel, navigate to Plugins > Add New then search for Rename wp-login

There are actually several different plugins that you may use to rename the login area, so feel free to have a browse through and choose the one that you prefer.

Or you can just go with Rename wp-login  We'll install that and activate it. Once activated, you’ll be taken straight a settings page where you can rename the login area. You may leave it as login, or you may come up with something a little more obscure. 

This is known as security by obscurity.

And if you do go with something a bit more obscure, then ensure you bookmark the new login page so that you don't accidentally lose it. 

In this example, I’ll leave it as login, and save the changes. So now if I log in, the URL will say login, not wp-login.php

Recovering WordPress if You Get Locked Out

On that note, if you ever install a plugin for security and then accidentally lock yourself out, go to the File Manager or FTP client. Navigate to the Plugins folder, in the WordPress installation, then rename the folder for that plugin. 

That has the effect of deactivating the plugin, in turn removing whatever mechanism is locking you out. Then you can get yourself back into the WordPress admin area and correct the issue. 

Limit the Number of Unsuccessful Login Attempts

WordFence
WordFence

Another good security measure is to limit the number of unsuccessful login attempts a person may make. Generally speaking, a valid user is only going to forget their password a few times before they reset it or they remember it. 

If, however, there's a single IP address making many login attempts, that's an indication that somebody trying to hack their way into the site. 

The way to counter this is by setting a maximum number of login attempts. If you set it to five, then after five incorrect attempts to log in, a user would be temporarily locked out. And you may set how long to lock them out for, say five minutes or 20 minutes. That would usually be enough to interrupt a brute force attack. 

Once again, there’s a couple of different plugins that you can use for this. I’m using the functionality that’s included in one of the most popular security plugins for WordPress, Wordfence

Install and activate Wordfence in the usual way and navigate to the lower left of the WordPress menu to find the Wordfence menu. Select Options

Wordfence does a number of things, many of which I’ll show you in another tutorial.  For now, I’m focusing on limiting the login attempts. So scroll down to the Login Security Options section. 

Here, you may configure:

  • the number of login attempts a person may make 
  • how many times they may forget their password
  • the period of time that you'll allow those attempts to occur within
  • how long you want have that person locked out

Well, I say a person, but this won’t actually affect people as much as it will affect automatic login attempts. And that’s the point. 

Generally speaking, you can probably leave the settings at the default values. Pay attention to the activity on the site to see if there are brute force attacks being made. 

Lock Out Invalid User Names

Locking Out Invalid User Names
Locking Out Invalid User Names

If you're the only person using the site, you may set rules to be as strict as you want. If, however, you have a business website where you have customers as members on your site, then you’ll need to consider the customer service side of things. 

For example, I had a website where all of my customers needed to be able to log-in to the back-end in order to access products that they had purchased from me. At the same time, I experienced a relentless series of brute force attacks that went on for years, non-stop, 24/7. 

So, in order to protect the data of my customers, I had to make the call to make these rules very strict. 

One of the things that I activated was this option here to immediately lock out invalid usernames. Because, my logic was, sometimes you forget your password but, generally speaking, you're less likely to forget your own username. 

Now if you do find yourself in a situation where you have to do this, just have some type of customer service process ready because when people get locked out, they may get a bit irritated. 

Ensure that you provide an easy way for locked-out customers to contact you and let you know that they've been locked out. Then explain to them that the reason that you're doing it is to protect their information. Once they know that, they'll always be happy; the irritation will disappear!

And if anything, you have an opportunity to build greater trust with your customers because they know that you're looking out for their privacy and security. 

Now one great feature that this area also includes is you can see here. It says prevent users registering admin username if it doesn't exist. And you already know why you don't want to have an admin username on your site. But you can also add extra usernames that you don't want to allow on the site. 

So you might add wp-admin, you might add your full name to make sure that nobody can use that. And that just gives you extra ways to try to prevent these brute force login attempts. 

Another thing that you should be aware of. If you have customers that need to log in to your site and you limited the number of login attempts that they can make. Is the Alerts section at the top of these options. So here, you can get an alert whenever somebody's IP address is blocked. 

Now, of course, you get to know customers over time, so if you see that someone who's been locked out is a trusted member you can be a bit proactive. You may unblock them and let them know that they're able to log in again. 

Unblocking IP Addresses

Blocking IP Addresses
Blocking IP Addresses

If somebody contacts you, who has been locked out, and they are legitimate user, then go to the Wordfence menu, and go to Blocked IPs

Here, you'll see IP addresses that are blocked out from login. You’ll be able to identify the person who's been blocked and remove that block. Or you can just choose Clear all locked out IP addresses if you feel that it's safe to do so. 

Limiting WordPress Admin to an IP Address

Limiting WordPress Admin to an IP Address
Limiting WordPress Admin to an IP Address

Allowing only specific IP addresses to have access to the WordPress admin area as another good security precaution. 

This is something you can do if only you and a handful of other people are accessing the site. And you’ll all need to have a static IP address. That is to say an IP addresses that doesn't change over time but which stays the same. 

If these circumstances are satisfied, then follow the WordPress Codex instructions on how to modify the .htaccess file so that it only allows certain IP addresses to access the admin area. .htaccess is found in the root folder of your site.

Now I'm not going through exactly what you have to do here because this does get a little technical. You’ll need to know whether the server is an Apache server or an Nginx server. If you don't feel confident with that, then you probably don't want to attempt this technique. But if you do, then you'll find a link, in the notes below this tutorial, on the process to follow. 

.htaccess Login

Using htaccess to password protect the admin area
Using htaccess to password protect the admin area

Another, similar technique is to create an extra layer of password protection on the login page

Again, this is done by editing the .htaccess file in the root folder of the website. This security measure creates a popup that prompts for a username and password—not the password to your WordPress site but a different one. And this functionality is completely separate from WordPress. Only once you successfully log in through this popup can you even access the login page. 

If you're dealing with brute force attacks, and you don't have to allow public access to the admin area for your customers, then this is a really great option. 

Once again, this is a little technical. You can find the complete instructions on how to password protect wp-login from the WordPress Codex.

Just a quick note, though. If you’ve renamed the login area, ensure that you don't leave wp-login.php in here, which is the default address of your login area. Ensure you update so that it's protecting the correct location for the login page. 

CAPTCHA Code

Captcha Code plugin
Captcha Code plugin

Another technique is to add a CAPTCHA code to login pages. Again, this is achieved with a plugin so navigate to Plugins > Add New

There are several different CAPTCHA plugins, and you can use any one that you like. One of my favorites, though, is SI CAPTCHA Anti-Spam. So I’ve installed that and activated it. 

Go to Settings, scroll down and this is where to set up a CAPTCHA code for the registration form, for the lost password form and for the comment form. You do have the option to activate it on the login form, as well, as that one is not enabled by default. 

Once again, if you are having trouble and you really need to clamp down on brute force attacks, you may enable this. 

Once enabled, you’ll have a CAPTCHA code here and it won’t be possible to log in without getting that code correct. 

Two-Factor Authentication in WordPress

Two Factor Authentication in WordPress
Two Factor Authentication in WordPress

The last technique to protect the WordPress admin area is two-factor authentication, also known as two-step authentication. 

You're probably familiar with this from personal use of this security technique. 

The two-step basically refers to needing two things in order to get in. Normally something you have and something you know.

You have your username and password—something you know—and one method is to text a security code to a mobile phone—something you have. 

Wordfence does have functionality built in for this. If you go to Wordfence > Cellphone Sign-in. This, however, is something that you’ll need to pay for in order to enable. 

Alternatively, there are other plugins that you can use. You can learn more about two-factor authentication on the WordPress website.  

Conclusion

That wraps up the list of top techniques for securing the WordPress admin area. I’ve done quite a lot so far to secure the WordPress site, but there are still other things that can be done.

In the next lesson of this free course, I’ll show you some additional security methods to implement.


by Kezz Bracey via Envato Tuts+ Code

30+ Essential Video Marketing Stats That Content Marketers Should Know (infographic)

It’s strange to think that just a few years ago video was something truly expensive so much so that only rich corporations could hope to advertise using them at all, and a few years before that moving pictures simply did not exist. Now video based marketing is so affordable and effective that...

[ This is a content summary only. Visit our website https://ift.tt/1b4YgHQ for full links, other content, and more! ]

by Zia Muhammad via Digital Information World

The Best Free To-Do List Apps For Android and How to Make One Yourself

Keeping track of your tasks can be overwhelming if you don't have them organized.  That's where a to-do list helps. In this post I'll show you some of the best free to-do lists apps for Android. Then I'll give you some pointers on how to create your own to-do list app.

A to-do list app lets you keep your tasks organized and ensures that they are always accessible. A good to-do list app should also show notifications on the device to let uses set and see reminders.

The Best Free To-Do List Apps for Android

There are many Android to-do list apps, and some of them are worth a try. Let's look at some of the best.

Microsoft To-Do: List, Task & Reminder

Microsoft To-Do

Microsoft To-Doo List, Task & Reminder by Microsoft is one of the most advanced apps available for capturing to-do tasks. The UI is top-notch, and its interface is easy to access. It contains all the functionality needed to make and maintain tasks.

Key features:

  • lets you share your task list and plan with your friends and family
  • features an intelligent suggestions algorithm that recommends tasks from across your lists that may be relevant for the day
  • ability to customize your lists with features like emoji, colorful themes, dark mode, and more
  • multipurpose to-do lists such as shopping list, reminders, notes, etc.
  • ability to attach large files up to 25 MB to tasks
  • daily organizer
  • allows you to group lists together by topic or project

Google Tasks: Any Task, Any Goal. Get Things Done

Google tasks

Google Tasks by Google is one of the most popular to-do list apps for Android.  It's easy to use and comes with tons of stunning features. It also integrates with Gmail and Google Calendar to help you get tasks done faster. It will also save you time and energy by reminding you about your plans. Other features of this app include:

  • edit details about any task as your work progresses
  • organize your tasks by date or prioritize using the drag-and-drop feature
  • break your task into subtasks

TickTick

Tick tick

TickTick is the perfect to-do list app if you are looking to stay organized and creative. If you are always missing deadlines on your tasks, you can set a reminder and avoid missing deadlines altogether. Unlike most other to-do apps, TickTick offers an unlimited amount of space for storing notes for each task. 

TickTick also promotes collaboration by allowing user-based comments which come in handy when collaborating on a task with others.

Other key features include:

  • tasks are organized into lists and folders, so you can have different folders for work, home, and hobbies
  • simple design that lets you easily switch to various tasks
  • organize tasks by priority
  • add repeats and location reminders to the task

To-Do List

To Do List

To Do List is a very simple and straightforward Android app with a very easy-to-use interface. There are just a few buttons which make it easy to make, edit, and view any task.

Key features include:

  • support for recurring tasks
  • support for different kinds of such as tasks without a due date, all-day-long tasks, and tasks at a specific hour of the day
  • user-friendly task management system
  • smart home screen widgets show you what you should do next
  • Google sync

Todoist

Todoist

Todoist is also a popular to-do list app for Android. This app comes with both free and premium versions. The Todoist free version features a lot of advanced features such as an easy way to add a new reminder, a list of projects on the home screen, and a slick design.

Key features include:

  • capture and organize tasks instantly
  • reminders to help you remember deadlines and due dates
  • assigning tasks to others
  • track the progress of tasks with personalized productivity trends
  • prioritize your tasks with priority levels

Create an To-Do List App With an Android App Template

App templates are a great way to speed up your development project or to learn how to create an app. Templates can also serve as a source of inspiration! CodeCanyon is the world's best marketplace for Android app templates, with many comprehensive starter templates that are guaranteed to save you much work on your to-do list Android app. 

By downloading a app template, you can easily create a complete Android app that can be uploaded to to Play Store. By building on the professional design and features of the app template, you can get your app started quickly and focus on the unique parts that make it stand out from the rest.

Here are some of the best templates for to-do list apps.

Task List To Do Template

The Task List To Do template has a simple to-do list editor which features a reminders option and allows you to create quickly, edit, delete, or check tasks. The user can also create lists, set icons for the lists. You can also create additional items inside the lists.

Other notable features of this app template include:

  • beautiful UI design 
  • unlimited tasks and lists
  • displays tasks on widget
  • set icons for lists
  • ability to add a task to a specific day
  • ability to customize icons from camera and photo gallery
  • files are stored locally instead of a server
  • works offline

MyTodo: Todo List Flutter App

mytodo

MyTodo is a simple app that helps you keep track of all your to-do lists from simple errands to more complex projects. All your tasks are organized in a beautiful interface. Key features include:

  • ability to add and remove tasks easily
  • ability to group tasks under categories.
  • personalize to do items category using color and icon.
  • beautiful design

Create an Android To-Do List App With an API

APIs make it possible to exchange data between mobile apps and web services. 

There are two options when it comes to building apps: either integrate an existing API or create a new one. Using an already existing API saves lots of money and time. Integrating with an existing API cuts down on the coding you have to do and makes it easier to get your project started. One such API is the Todoist REST API.

Todoist REST API 

The Todoist API is free to use for any developer who wants to add Todoist features into their applications. 

The Todoist REST API allows developers to programmatically access most of Todoist's basic features for managing tasks and projects. With this API, you can create an Android app that allows users to create recurring tasks, organize tasks by project, assign tasks to other people, and more.

Toodledo API provides access to the following tools.

  • ability to add, edit, and delete tasks
  • manage labels for tasks
  • organize your ideas by breaking them down into sections.
  • manage projects 
  • add different color schemes

Conclusion

In this article, we saw some of the best to-do list apps. However you don't have to be limited to the apps in this list. You can also make one yourself and customize it to your needs! An Android app template is a great way to get started.

CodeCanyon is a Marketplace for App Templates and Builders

CodeCanyon is an online marketplace that has hundreds of additional professional Android app templates and builder tools. Some of these are incredibly feature-rich and well-designed. You can sometimes save days, even months, of effort by using one of them.

CodeCanyon mobile Android app template bestsellers

If you have trouble deciding which template on CodeCanyon is right for you, these articles should help: 



by Esther Vaati via Envato Tuts+ Code