Protect Your wp-config.php File With .htaccess

As a webmaster, it's our duty to take care of our website. And security is our #1 priority when it comes to take care of a blog. As we know, there are millions of security issues with WordPress, which can be solved with some simple things, such as security plugins, configuring our .htaccess file, etc.

Today we'll secure our wp-config.php file with some basic .htaccess editing. Add following code to your .htaccess file:

<files wp-config.php>
order allow,deny
deny from all
</files>

This code should be placed in an .htaccess file located in the directory that contains your wp-config.php file.

Optimize And Repair WordPress Database

In WordPress 2.9, WordPress gave us a new automatic database repair feature. This feature enables you to repair and optimize your database. You should use this feature time to time to take care of your website's home.

You can use this feature even when you're not logged in to your website. This is because its main intent is to repair a corrupted database, Users can often not login to their WordPress when the database is corrupt.

Just add following snippet to your wp-config.php file to activate this feature:

define( 'WP_ALLOW_REPAIR', true );

Once activated, you can see the settings on this page: http://www.yoursite.com/wp-admin/maint/repair.php

Once you are done repairing and optimizing your database, make sure to remove this from your wp-config.php.

Send Email Notifications When User Role Changes In WordPress

Yesterday I shared a code which sends an email to the user when the user updates their profile. Today I have something similar, but a bit different. This code sends an email the user when the user's role has changed.

It's a great way to let a member know about the role changes that you'll make. It's also a great trick if you're running a WordPress site with bbPress forum or multiple wirters & contributors.

Just add following to your functions.php:

function user_role_update( $user_id, $new_role ) {
        $site_url = get_bloginfo('wpurl');
        $user_info = get_userdata( $user_id );
        $to = $user_info->user_email;
        $subject = "Role changed: ".$site_url."";
        $message = "Hello " .$user_info->display_name . " your role has changed on ".$site_url.", congratulations you are now an " . $new_role;
        wp_mail($to, $subject, $message);
}
add_action( 'set_user_role', 'user_role_update', 10, 2);

That's it.

Increase Maximum Upload File Size Limit In WordPress

Sometimes, you need to upload a large file to your site. If you run a WordPress site with audio podcasts, videos, and .zip files, then you may need to increase WordPress' default 32mb limit.

There are lot of ways around the internet to increase your WordPress max upload file size, but most of them are not much hardy. But a little snippet by Word Impressed can solve your problem. You can easily increase or decrease your maximum upload file size limit.

Create a php.ini file (using notepad document) and upload it into your /wp-admin/ folder and add following snippet into the file:

memory_limit = 32M
upload_max_filesize = 32M
post_max_size = 32M
file_uploads = On

You can change 32m in the above code to whatever max file size you want.

Send Email Notifications When User Profile Updates In WordPress

Adding this snippet to your functions.php file will send an email to the user when the user updates their profile. It's really great way to provide more security to your users. It's also a great trick if you're running a WordPress site with BuddyPress or bbPress. It makes your website look more advance, and keeps your user secure from hackers.

Just add following to your functions.php:

function user_profile_update( $user_id ) {
        $site_url = get_bloginfo('wpurl');
        $user_info = get_userdata( $user_id );
        $to = $user_info->user_email;
        $subject = "Profile Updated: ".$site_url."";
        $message = "Hello " .$user_info->display_name . "\nYour profile has been updated!\n\nThank you for visiting\n ".$site_url."";
        wp_mail( $to, $subject, $message);
}
add_action( 'profile_update', 'user_profile_update', 10, 2);

Restrict Access To WordPress Media Uploads

Ever wanted to restrict access WordPress media upload mime/format? Yes, that's why you guys are reading this post. You can perform this trick with directories such as /uploads/, /upgrade/, and /backups/. All you need a .htaccess file for the directory.

Create an .htaccess file for your /uploads/ directory (or use existing file if present). Add following code to the .htaccess file:

# restrict access to uploads directory
<Files ~ ".*\..*">
    Order Allow,Deny
    Deny from all
</Files>
<FilesMatch "\.(jpg|jpeg|jpe|gif|png|tif|tiff)$">
    Order Deny,Allow
    Allow from all
</FilesMatch>

The above code denies access to all files but only to the specified types of mime in the 6th line. You can also add more file types to the code such as .zip, .mp3, .mov, or anything.

You can also use same technique in other directories such as /upgrade/, /backup/, and more. Just create an .htaccess file in the directory and add the above code.

Add QR Code For Posts And Pages In WordPress

QR Code (Quick Response Code) is a great way to promote your content, and is very easy for users to use them. They can visit a webpage without even typing the entire web address. Just scan the QR Code and that's it.

The QR code system was invented in 1994 by Toyota's subsidiary, Denso Wave. Its purpose was to track vehicles during manufacture; it was designed to allow high-speed component scanning.[

Would you like to add a QR Code to your posts and pages in WordPress? It's easy just add the following snippet to your single.php file of your WordPress theme in the location you wish to display the QR.

<img src="http://api.qrserver.com/v1/create-qr-code/?size=100x100&data=<?php the_permalink(); ?>" alt="QR:  <?php the_title(); ?>"/>

To adjust the size of the QR Code just change the following within the src size=100×100.

How To Hide Post View And Post Preview Buttons From WordPress Post Editor

Ever wanted to remove "preview post" & "view post" option from the WordPress' post editor? Here is the solution how to do this. Just add following snippet to your theme's functions.php file and don't forget to update the post type array in the following code:

function posttype_admin_css() {
    global $post_type;
    $post_types = array(
                        /* set post types */
                        'post_type_name',
                        'post',
                        'page',
                  );
    if(in_array($post_type, $post_types))
    echo '<style type="text/css">#post-preview, #view-post-btn{display: none;}</style>';
}
add_action( 'admin_head-post-new.php', 'posttype_admin_css' );
add_action( 'admin_head-post.php', 'posttype_admin_css' );

How To Remove URL Field From WordPress Comment Form

For some WordPress sites, such as themes, review, and all, you may want to remove Website URL field from the WordPress' comment form. Removing the field could be used for product reviews or if they created a support tickets theme that does not require a url field.

It's not much hard to remove/unset the website url from the comment form. Just add following snippet to your functions.php file and it's done:

add_filter('comment_form_default_fields', 'unset_url_field');
function unset_url_field($fields){
    if(isset($fields['url']))
       unset($fields['url']);
       return $fields;
}

Change Post Color By Status In WordPress Admin Panel

It's a great trick if you manage a WordPress site with multiple writers/contributors.It's a great trick if you manage a WordPress site with multiple writers/contributors.

Adding this snippet to your theme's functions.php file will change the background colors of the post / page within the admin based on the current status. Draft, Pending, Published, Future, Private.

add_action('admin_footer','posts_status_color');
function posts_status_color(){
?>
<style>
.status-draft{background: #FCE3F2 !important;}
.status-pending{background: #87C5D6 !important;}
.status-publish{/* no background keep wp alternating colors */}
.status-future{background: #C6EBF5 !important;}
.status-private{background:#F2D46F;}
</style>
<?php
}