One morning in August, I was minding my own business, editing photos, or working on a design, or chasing the cat around the house, when I got an email from my web host informing me that my site had been suspended for phishing. A large grunt, heavy sigh and disappointed demeanour later, I called customer service, sorted out the matter and was back up and running.
… until that afternoon, when I got a second email saying my site has been suspended for phishing.
This time around, the nice customer service rep asked me if the fella from that morning had explained the situation to me. Turns out, a number of WordPress themes have a security vulnerability in them, as a result of the TimThumb script. (Curious? Read about it here.) This vulnerability in my theme left me needing to change themes, and thus, the daunting task of finding something suitable began.
Bogged down with wedding after wedding in August, as well as impromptu magazine projects, theme searches were delayed time and time again.
Somehow, in a sweet turn of events, I was mindlessly browsing online, half heartedly doing searches for great, portfolio WordPress themes when I found it. Just like that. Magic. Eureka.
The goal was a great looking design at a decent price. As much as I may have fallen in love with the $100 themes that required you to pay out $100 every year for theme updates and more, I simply couldn’t justify it. This little diddy was like a Portugese knight in shining armour. Seriously. The theme was developed by a fella in Portugal.
I set to work last week, redesigning and learning the theme, only to be met by hacker experience number three on Friday evening, after finally having deemed the site “done” enough to start telling people it was updated. Go figure.
The downside of all this is that I am starting fresh, one hundred per cent. Frustrated by everything, I deleted my entire WordPress install and opted to start fresh, rather than salvaging bits and pieces from the dust. Oddly, in the end, it was cathartic. All of those previous blog posts were pretty hokey anyway. Now, I can reorganize, reassess, and perhaps, finally, get into a weekly routine with set topics on certain days and all will be well in the blogosphere once more.
Maybe.
Just maybe.
