Comments for Debating the Dots http://blog.picadesign.com A Graphic Discussion Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:14:25 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 Comment on Who Needs a Designer when you have WordPress Themes? by James Mehorter http://blog.picadesign.com/2010/03/who-needs-a-designer-when-you-have-wordpress-themes/comment-page-1/#comment-222 James Mehorter Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:14:25 +0000 http://blog.picadesign.com/?p=664#comment-222 Hey Brian, I totally agree! On one hand we are very happy that individuals without capitol can create a nice web presence. It is quite common now for people to make their own sites with tools like Apple's iWeb, GoDaddy's WebsiteTonight, RapidWeaver, and even Wordpress Themes. However, we have many clients come to us after they've been sold on these products only to find they hate their template site and find they can't do some important things like SEO. Not to mention the massive confusion they experience with hosting and domain problems. They end up hiring us, wishing they had come to us in the first place. We feel a middle-road is the best solution; having a customized Wordpress theme created to match your branding, and letting a Web Development company handle all the tech / hosting intricacies. And yes, you are very correct - the Wordpress Admin is by-far the most user/client-friendly Content Management System out there! You can't buy a build-your-own-car or house kit and expect to have it come out square and level unless you're a carpenter. James Hey Brian,

I totally agree! On one hand we are very happy that individuals without capitol can create a nice web presence. It is quite common now for people to make their own sites with tools like Apple’s iWeb, GoDaddy’s WebsiteTonight, RapidWeaver, and even WordPress Themes. However, we have many clients come to us after they’ve been sold on these products only to find they hate their template site and find they can’t do some important things like SEO. Not to mention the massive confusion they experience with hosting and domain problems. They end up hiring us, wishing they had come to us in the first place. We feel a middle-road is the best solution; having a customized WordPress theme created to match your branding, and letting a Web Development company handle all the tech / hosting intricacies. And yes, you are very correct – the WordPress Admin is by-far the most user/client-friendly Content Management System out there!

You can’t buy a build-your-own-car or house kit and expect to have it come out square and level unless you’re a carpenter.

James

]]> Comment on Who Needs a Designer when you have WordPress Themes? by Brian DeKoning http://blog.picadesign.com/2010/03/who-needs-a-designer-when-you-have-wordpress-themes/comment-page-1/#comment-221 Brian DeKoning Wed, 31 Mar 2010 15:45:04 +0000 http://blog.picadesign.com/?p=664#comment-221 I've been considering the same questions lately. WordPress themes available for free or under $50 have really democratized web design. But it also seems to be giving a lot of designers exposure they wouldn't have otherwise. I think the need for custom design will always be there, but it is interesting to see that people with no web dev experience can set up a decent WordPress site in a day. Another thing to consider is how easy WordPress makes it for clients to manage their sites. We just launched the SENH Habitat site with a lot of WordPress action to make it easy for them to do so. I’ve been considering the same questions lately. WordPress themes available for free or under $50 have really democratized web design. But it also seems to be giving a lot of designers exposure they wouldn’t have otherwise. I think the need for custom design will always be there, but it is interesting to see that people with no web dev experience can set up a decent WordPress site in a day. Another thing to consider is how easy WordPress makes it for clients to manage their sites. We just launched the SENH Habitat site with a lot of WordPress action to make it easy for them to do so.

]]> Comment on Spreading Peace for the Holidays… How Sweet it is. by Rob http://blog.picadesign.com/2009/12/spreading-peace-for-the-holidays-how-sweet-it-is/comment-page-1/#comment-186 Rob Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:56:24 +0000 http://blog.picadesign.com/?p=620#comment-186 Cathy Roberts of Peace Preserves was recently interviewed by Village Soup. You can read the article here: http://blog.picadesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/The-Republican-Journal.pdf Cathy Roberts of Peace Preserves was recently interviewed by Village Soup. You can read the article here: http://blog.picadesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/The-Republican-Journal.pdf

]]> Comment on I like to Ride My Tricycle, Tricycle, Tricycle. by Rob http://blog.picadesign.com/2009/07/i-like-to-ride-my-tricycle-tricycle-tricycle/comment-page-1/#comment-102 Rob Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:44:47 +0000 http://www.picadesign.com/blog/?p=529#comment-102 This is now my favorite Pica post. Good times... Good times! This is now my favorite Pica post. Good times… Good times!

]]> Comment on Something Funny in the State of Maine by Tim Shackelford http://blog.picadesign.com/2009/06/something-funny-in-the-state-of-maine/comment-page-1/#comment-60 Tim Shackelford Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:03:12 +0000 http://www.picadesign.com/blog/?p=313#comment-60 Several of the sites that I dealt with recently were just plain HTML sites with no dynamic content and no CMS of any sort. These were basic brochure sites. In this case it was just an infected PC running FTP software that was compromised. This could even happen if a client using Contribute or similar site management software had their PC infected. I haven't heard yet if Macs have also been infected by this malware, but for now FTP info stored on my Mac seems to be safe despite sharing a network with the infected PC. Several of the sites that I dealt with recently were just plain HTML sites with no dynamic content and no CMS of any sort. These were basic brochure sites.

In this case it was just an infected PC running FTP software that was compromised. This could even happen if a client using Contribute or similar site management software had their PC infected.

I haven’t heard yet if Macs have also been infected by this malware, but for now FTP info stored on my Mac seems to be safe despite sharing a network with the infected PC.

]]> Comment on Something Funny in the State of Maine by Cait http://blog.picadesign.com/2009/06/something-funny-in-the-state-of-maine/comment-page-1/#comment-59 Cait Mon, 15 Jun 2009 14:21:59 +0000 http://www.picadesign.com/blog/?p=313#comment-59 Absolutely. It's essential to keep up to date with the software packages - open source ones particularly. But at least one of the ones I've seen has been just html, and on a well protected local host. Absolutely. It’s essential to keep up to date with the software packages – open source ones particularly. But at least one of the ones I’ve seen has been just html, and on a well protected local host.

]]> Comment on Something Funny in the State of Maine by Justin http://blog.picadesign.com/2009/06/something-funny-in-the-state-of-maine/comment-page-1/#comment-57 Justin Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:20:46 +0000 http://www.picadesign.com/blog/?p=313#comment-57 I've also found that sites that use older versions of software packages (WordPress, phpBB, etc.) tend to be very vulnerable to these kinds of attacks. It's important for someone - whether it's the site owner or a company that manages the site for a business - to keep that sort of software as up-to-date as possible! I’ve also found that sites that use older versions of software packages (WordPress, phpBB, etc.) tend to be very vulnerable to these kinds of attacks. It’s important for someone – whether it’s the site owner or a company that manages the site for a business – to keep that sort of software as up-to-date as possible!

]]> Comment on Something Funny in the State of Maine by Cait http://blog.picadesign.com/2009/06/something-funny-in-the-state-of-maine/comment-page-1/#comment-56 Cait Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:36:47 +0000 http://www.picadesign.com/blog/?p=313#comment-56 I'm so glad you were able to figure out the source and clear it up. We've seen the same issue on two other local sites that aren't ours, but are hosted locally. It would be interesting to know if the code on all is the same, and if they share hosting. I’m so glad you were able to figure out the source and clear it up. We’ve seen the same issue on two other local sites that aren’t ours, but are hosted locally. It would be interesting to know if the code on all is the same, and if they share hosting.

]]> Comment on Something Funny in the State of Maine by Tim Shackelford http://blog.picadesign.com/2009/06/something-funny-in-the-state-of-maine/comment-page-1/#comment-55 Tim Shackelford Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:44:25 +0000 http://www.picadesign.com/blog/?p=313#comment-55 I experienced 7 sites hacked with this same attack in the last couple of weeks. I believe I found the root. A malware infected Windows PC that I wasn't even using for anything but streaming Hulu to a TV. This used to be a development computer so I had Dreamweaver on it and was using Dreamweaver to manage FTP connections to the sites I worked on. Out of 9 FTP profiles in Dreamweaver, 7 were hacked, 1 did not have an index page, and 1 had switched hosting companies. I'm still not certain how the malware got on that machine in the first place, but I have a feeling it probably occurred when visiting an infected site prior to the site being flagged and the warning being displayed. The drastic but recommended solution, reformat the PC, clean the code from the website (I had great success by doing a site-wide find on the term "unescape"), then be sure to change the FTP password for the infected site. Hope this helps! I experienced 7 sites hacked with this same attack in the last couple of weeks. I believe I found the root. A malware infected Windows PC that I wasn’t even using for anything but streaming Hulu to a TV.

This used to be a development computer so I had Dreamweaver on it and was using Dreamweaver to manage FTP connections to the sites I worked on. Out of 9 FTP profiles in Dreamweaver, 7 were hacked, 1 did not have an index page, and 1 had switched hosting companies. I’m still not certain how the malware got on that machine in the first place, but I have a feeling it probably occurred when visiting an infected site prior to the site being flagged and the warning being displayed.

The drastic but recommended solution, reformat the PC, clean the code from the website (I had great success by doing a site-wide find on the term “unescape”), then be sure to change the FTP password for the infected site.

Hope this helps!

]]> Comment on That’s a big cookie… by Cait http://blog.picadesign.com/2009/06/thats-a-big-cookie/comment-page-1/#comment-50 Cait Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:09:40 +0000 http://www.picadesign.com/blog/?p=306#comment-50 My favorite is the shot of the guy rubbing his belly while we watches. They should have put in an Oreo vending machine right there, it would have been sold out instantly! My favorite is the shot of the guy rubbing his belly while we watches. They should have put in an Oreo vending machine right there, it would have been sold out instantly!

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