After I wrote my post on plugins for increasing your blog’s security last Thursday, I sent it out on Twitter, shopping for readers. I do that because it is nice to think that someone may get something from the effort I put into writing the posts. Well I got a response on Twitter, from @blondishnet,  about it being better to use other methods, like modifying the .htaccess file, to tighten security on your blog, rather then using plugins.

I think I finally managed to convince her that I did agree with her point, but I was not writing these posts for the kind of person that was able or comfortable with doing that kind of thing. I am trying to point out plugins that are easy to use and add functionality for people that are not technically inclined or even tech-phobic. That may seem somewhat strange, given the plugins are for software used on the “intrawebs”, but the fact is, the web is so ubiquitous these days, all kinds of people use it.

But since I do agree with her, I decided today to put up a few links to other places where you can find information about making your blog more secure.

Links for improving your security

• Blog Security – This should be your first stop. A lot of articles, covering all levels of security. Including a security scanner that can run some basic checks of your blog.
• Geek Ramblings – An article discussing some of the things that Blog Security talks about. The comments are also useful reading.
• Webmaster World – A very informative thread on the forum there about various ways to secure WordPress. A lot of it is very technical, so it is definitely not for everyone.
• Make Tech Easier – Another post about making your blog more secure. With more good information in the comments.
• guvnr – An excellent video tutorial, along with notes on the post, for making your blog much more secure. If you are at all willing to try something new with your blog, follow along and secure it with these instructions.

Final Words

One thing you will notice about these sites is the amount of overlap. They all talk about good passwords, protecting your plugin directory, changing your admin name, and other things like that. The reason they overlap is they are all covering the most basic things you should do for security. If you are not comfortable doing most the things that are talked about and explained in the various places on the list, you should at least do the most basic.

And add some plugins like the ones I looked at last week.  A couple of them will help do some of the things mentioned in the articles, others help in different ways. They are not the best ways to keep your words safe, but every little bit helps.