The popularity of WordPress makes it an obvious target for hackers too. Here are some ways we protect our WordPress deployments at protracked:

Up to date. Always!

The WordPress development team works vigorously to find security flaws and improve them. Such fixes are released to users as regular core version updates. Minor updates happen automatically, but major updates like migrating to the recent WordPress 5.0 have to be performed manually. Most users ignore these core version updates, as they can sometimes affect website elements. These issues then need to be fixed in a hurry. Not updating core version changes makes the hackers job easy and they love it.

Plugins and theme updates are very critical than WordPress core updates. 63% of reported WordPress security problems are caused by incompatible plugins or themes, while just 37% are due to the lack of core updates. That being said, be attentive while using questionable plugins/themes from third parties.

Installing a security plugin like Wordfence Security will alert us via email whenever there is an update.

Secure the Web Host

The web host you pick can have an impact upon your WordPress website’s security. Shared servers may be cheaper but pose a likely WordPress security issue. Hackers can simply find their way into your website by initially going through the other vulnerable websites on the shared server.

A fix for these WordPress security issues is choosing a managed WordPress hosting. Many of these web hosts automatically update and backup your WordPress website.

We do not host websites on shared servers due to security and performance reasons. Closing back-end access to server from all IPs other than our office’s static IP address has been a really effective way for us in securing our servers.

Rename default WordPress login

Another easy way to protect your Wordpress website is renaming your WordPress login page, making it inaccessible unless you have the direct URL. In case you’re not a developer, use the Rename wp-login.php plugin to rename. Don’t forget to bookmark the changed URL.

This WordPress security method works as long as your website only allows some administrator accounts. However, in case your WordPress website users are too many, make sure admins and users use different login pages (Just hide the admin login).

This is a wordpress website. Try logging in :p

Utilize WordPress Security Plugins

Even if WordPress does a neat job protecting itself you can still increase its security by installing security plugins. These plugins handle all manner of tasks including scanning, preventing threats, attaching firewalls, tracking logins, and more.

Wordfence is our personal favorite. It is one of the more popular WordPress security plugins. It’s a freemium plugin which includes firewall and malware scanners created especially for WordPress.

Backup! Automated Backups!

Just like the above tweaks, it is also important to have backups; that too, automated backups. It helps not just from hackers, but also from occasional screw ups that happen due to updates or mistakes. Use any of the popular WordPress backup plugins, and store your backups in the cloud on an independent account. Don’t store all your backups in the host itself. Instead, store your backups in the cloud on an independent account.

As a standard practice, we keep automated, snapshots of 1 month for all our servers. It has come in handy not just for recovery, but also for testing, migrations and identifying breaking of builds due to updates.

Are you wondering, ‘How Laravel fulfils all the web application needs?’ Here are the major reasons why Laravel remains the top-notch framework out of all.

But before taking a deep dive into that, for a newbie, what is Laravel?

Laravel is a php-based web framework for designing web applications with an easy-to-use syntax. It is an open source framework henceforth while using them, you need not build the website from the scratch; thus it saves your time and effort.

What makes the Laravel most popular?

Developer-friendly: No Laravel version is established without a proper documentation! The coding, methods, and classes are well-explained in a detailed manner. The documentation is consistent enough to make a beginner understand and proceed it at ease.

Simple and secure authentication: Laravel offers an out-of-the-box configuration to compile authentication logic and control access to resources. 

MVC support: The MVC pattern makes certain the clarity of logic and presentation. This support has multiple built-in functions and helps you in enhancing the performance and allowing better documentation.

Eloquent ORM: It is Laravel’s built-in Object Relational Mapping (ORM) implementation. It allows you to interact with your database objects and relationships using easy-to-understand syntax. 

Artisan: Laravel has a built-in command line interface named as Artisan. It allows to manage most of the tedious and repetitive progressive tasks which many developers avoid to perform manually. While building your application, it can help you by providing helpful commands. You can even upgrade the capabilities and functionality of Artisan using your own commands.

In-built templates: Laravel has in-built lightweight templates and is designed to create a simple and attention-grabbing layout using dynamic content seeding. Also, it has several widgets integrating CSS and JS code with solid structures. 

LIbraries: Along with Object Oriented Libraries, it also has many pre-installed libraries which is not found in any other PHP frameworks. Authentication library is one of the pre-installed libraries – easy to implement and has numerous advanced features like Bcrypt hashing, password reset, checking active users, CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) protection and encryption.

MIgration system: Laravel facilitates to change the database structure without re-creating the database whenever developers make a change. Instead of SQL, you can change the database structure by just using PHP code.

Unit-Testing: Laravel offers the facility to perform many tests to make sure that the changes made don’t break anything in the web application. 

 Pagination: Pagination is a time-saving feature. It paginates data from the database, thus it’s essential for developers who want to build web and API services.

Because of its unique features and architecture, Laravel’s popularity is increasing day by day. This framework is highly preferred by developers and businesses for its optimized programming results. Start learning today and become a professional Laravel developer!

Basically, scalability, performance, and structure of your application depends on the framework you choose. At present, Vue.js and Angular are the most popular front-end frameworks. Though Vue.js is mostly preferred because of its speed, functionality, and many more.

Why is Vue.js the best front-end development framework?

• Vue.js codes are clean and simple which can be read and understood by anyone. This property proceeds the development process much easier.

• Whenever an app is developed using Vue.js, it is as small as about 18 KB after zipping. Which customer won’t prefer an app that covers a little space yet performs brilliant?  

• Vue.js is easy to learn for beginners if they have little knowledge about HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Hence, lot of Vue.js developers are emerging out and no need to stress about hiring.

• Apps developed using Vue.js is faster to download and bring into action due to its small memory consumption.

• Vue.js offers an easy and straightforward integration process. This enables Vue.js developers to create single page app from scratch and to integrate high-end components into an existing application simultaneously.

• Vue.js also offers service side rendering option and so the speed and progress of the workings of the pages can be improved on the customers’ end. Thus, it delivers great customer satisfaction.

In short, if you want a lightweight and single-page application, it’s appropriate to choose Vue.js. Also, if your priority is speed and performance, Vue.js is the way to go – look no further! 

If you’ve made a decision already and searching for Vue.js developers, visit us! We have passionate and professional Vue.js developers to assist your business and make it stand out!

Are you building your own website or redesigning your existing website? You must consider developing it using the WordPress platform – an incredibly versatile choice for building eye-grabbing websites for personal or commercial use.

So, what exactly is the role of a WordPress?

WordPress assists you to effortlessly create, edit, manage, and publish content on your site without having a prior knowledge in programming. Also, it makes sure that the website displays perfectly on all devices.

Still didn’t get a clarity? 

In simple words, it is a software that allows you to maintain a database of any kind of information – text, photos, audio, or video files. It can be displayed and formatted in the way you dreamt of!

By the time, I hope you’ve perceived the efficacy of WordPress. Not only that, there are many benefits in using it. Read on.

15 reasons on why to use WordPress:

1. WordPress is an open source software, i.e., it is free to use, edit, and redistribute. 
   
2. WordPress is easy-to-setup and affordable. You can install and start working on it in five minutes approx.
   
3. WordPress offers you enormous flexibility and versatility options to create any website. It also gives you a wide range of wordpress themes and plugins thereby increasing the functionality to a larger extent. 
   
4. We all know, Google ranks every website in search results on the basis of predefined parameters. WordPress helps you fulfil more parameters thereby improving the search engine visibility of your website. Furthermore, website plugins are available to ease the SEO process.
   
5. No matter if you are a developer or not, WordPress has a user-friendly dashboard and you can easily customise the designs, colours, features of a WordPress theme.
   
6. WordPress has a large community to help people in troubleshooting. The support forum already consists of millions of queries and answers.
   
7. In the case of HTML websites, you will need to create a separate website for mobile phones and PCs. But WordPress supports all mobile platforms and screen sizes.
   
8. WordPress plugins will protect the website from malware, hackers, and enforce strong passwords.
   
9. Plenty of customisable functions are available for better content management system. You can even schedule posts to be published at specific times.
   
10. You can improve branding by creating a small community inside your website where customers can interact and share their feedback.
    
11.  WordPress allows you to work with several third-party services without the help of a developer. For instance, to integrate a payment gateway or to install an automatic backup system.
    
12. Are you targeting a global audience? If yes, WordPress is a must-have for your website. Here, you can translate your website into over 40 languages and create separate website for each language.
    
13. For exclusive content like online courses or tutorials, you can build a premium membership site.
    
14. If you are not satisfied with the current web hosting provider, you have the option to move to another hosting provider; which you can’t do in most platforms.
    
15. WordPress is of less maintenance. You can easily backup and update using plugins in a single click. It will even inform you when an update is available.

WordPress offers you the perfect foundation to build a lasting website. If you use it appropriately, you can heighten security and efficiency of your business. Ready to get started? Speak with the experts for assistance! 

Does your business have a website?

Does your business make money on your website through advertising, e-commerce, etc?

If yes, you definitely need a Progressive Web Application. It has a significant effect on functionality and revenue.

According to the recent report, after using AliExpress has 104% increase in conversion rates for new users and Twitter has increase of 75% in tweets, 65% in pages per session, and a decrease of 20% in bounce rate.

What is a Progressive Web Application?

In simple words, Progressive Web Application looks like a web app but delivers the experience of a native app.

Before taking a closer look into the significance and functions of Progressive Web Application, let’s be clear on what a native app and web app is.

Native app – It is distributable and downloadable from the mobile app store respective to OS.

Web app – It is accessible from within a web browser by simple entering their address or URL.

So, Progressive Web Application is designed in a way to exceed the expectations of a mobile web app and native web app by delivering the best customized features of each to mobile users. It does not require you to write the code again and again for various platforms. It is more secure as they have HTTPS to provide transaction security. In addition to that, you don’t have to install any apps instead it can be accessed in a browser by simply placing it on the home screen.

Here are a few key statistics of Progressive Web Application found by the AppInstitute.Bounce rate is decreased by a phenomenal 42.86% compared to mobile websites

15 x times faster to load and install

25 x times less device storage required 

133.67% increase in page views

78% increase in average session

52% increase in average conversion

68% increase of mobile traffic

However, a few businesses are unlikely to create Progressive Web Apps due to the business limitations. To identify if your business needs it or not, this is all what you need. By the end of this article, you can make a clear decision in hold of enriched information.

Functions of a Progressive Web Application:

• It enables the app to load instantly on repeat visits by displaying the cached content immediately. Followed by that, the rest of the page will be delivered progressively. 
• It can be added to home screen offering the visibility and accessibility as same as a native app. 
• It provides offline functionality to achieve a great level of performance irrespective of the network condition. 
• It enables push notifications to communicate with the site visitors in personalized way.
• It offers secure online payment. Customers need not fill in the checkout forms as the payment details will be automatically restored.

Advantages of a Progressive Web Application:

• Developers need not build the app for multiple platforms as a progressive web app will work perfectly on both android and iOS. 
• Customers need not visit an app store, install, and accept several permissions. Rather they can merely click on the site, add the app to a home screen, and start using it. How simple is that! 
• Whenever a developer releases new versions, customers can avoid themselves from updating. They can maintain the old app version until they update. 
• Researchers found that about 80% of the smartphone users move apps to the home screen intentionally. This ability makes it more competitive with web apps. 
• It is HTTPS enabled and so it ensures that all users information are protected including customer information, payment transactions, and their browsing history. 
• It offers universal access, that is, customers can simply navigate to any browser and access the app instantly.

Disadvantages of a Progressive Web Application:

• Few devices cannot support the entire software functionality. It has some support issues in Android devices whereas iOS devices does not support notifications and shortcut prompting on the home screen.
• Hardware components like GPS, fingerprint scanners, bluetooth, camera, etc is not supported on all devices. 
• It does not support all browsers especially newer and custom browser versions. 
• Since the app is not available in app stores, it might reduce the search traffic.

To summarize, Progressive Web App is a go-to option for different businesses. It not only based on customer loyalty and satisfaction, but also on low development costs, enhanced security, seamless operations, and so on.

Before getting down to the details, I’ve mentioned a few things below to help you better visualise about what SaaS is and what it does.

What is SaaS?

Short answer: SaaS is an optimised model to deliver core business applications instantly and effectively. No need to install on each and every computer!

Long answer: SaaS (Software as a Service) is a software delivery and licensing method and so the data can be accessed from any device using an internet connection and a web browser. These products are maintained and updated automatically by a provider.

Reports from FinancesOnline conveys that 51% of companies perform their operations using SaaS products. 

Previously, companies were overwhelmed to develop a new application. Processes like custom development, testing, training, sales, installation, etc could usually take a few weeks. But with the help of SaaS, all these can be done in a few days or less. Besides that, companies can be provided with instant access to an unrestricted, global market, and market a product without raising the delivering cost proportionally. By this time, you might have understood why everyone rush towards SaaS platform!

How do you build a successful SaaS product?

Here is a checklist of things to be addressed to make a product launch perfect and extraordinary.

• Refine your SaaS product idea

Identify some audiences who are genuine and glad to give unbiased feedback. Once found, share your SaaS product idea and hear from them. The idea might seem entirely flawless for you but minor issues can be seen only by outside people. Also, it’s a great idea to improve and optimise the present plan, new ideas might arise, may be!

• Find who needs your product

The real quest is to identify who your audiences are. Create a list of users who can benefit from your product. From that list, you can start spreading awareness and sending messages not to miss out any users at the end. Now, you would have gathered enough information after research.

• Engage them with your product

It is too clear that people make decisions only when they believe in a product. In order to gain trust, we will have to let them experience and engage with your SaaS product. Though your product does not completely exist, you can create a demo or a minimum viable product. It is a smaller version of your product to deliver your prospects a basic service your product offers.

• Find investors for your product

Set a campaign and find new audiences who are willing to invest in your product. Get their contact information immediately and improve relationship with them apart from texting and mailing. Try offering freebies in your campaign to attract wider audiences. Who doesn’t like a gift?

•   Connect with other SaaS products

Weird but smart! Build relationships with other SaaS product companies to get support and guidance from them. You can connect via social media, attend SaaS events and conferences, or write guest blogs on other company sites. Writing guest blogs will get you build valuable back-links to your website.

• Schedule a launch date

While you have developed an entire first version of your SaaS product, set a launch date. Meanwhile continue building investors.

• Spread words about your launch

Use both inbound and outbound marketing strategies to ensure you are getting the word out about your launch in every nook and corner. Few of the effective marketing efforts are running ads on Facebook and other marketing ads, making press releases, attending SaaS conferences, and many more.

• Time to launch your product

Before launching your product, make sure that all your product’s features and functionalities are working for different users and on different devices. Ensure your team test every detail of it. Here you go, launch!

• Improve features and functionality consistently

In order to keep your SaaS product evolving constantly, get feedback from your attendees when you push your product live. Note it down the requested features and functionalities and use those as a guide to develop version 2 of your SaaS product.

The above-mentioned checklists are to be followed mandatory to build a successful SaaS product.

As we all know, SaaS is the most thriving service in the IT industry. If used efficiently, its benefits are countless. Build your own SaaS product today!