While I was catching some much needed rest after WordCamp MSP, Joost de Valk did something cleaver. He setup a BlogPress SEO plugin on WordPress.org. The initial release consists of just a readme.txt and a php file with only the plugin comment header, no actual code. Since he set this release as 2.0, all users of the malicious 1.1 and 1.2 versions will receive “Plugin update is available” notices.
8.5 Hours Until WordCamp MSP 2010
Check in for WordCamp MSP 2010 starts in 8.5 hours. See you there.
FYI: My presentation begins at 9:30AM CST, and slides will be up sometime midday tomorrow. There also may be a Security focused breakout session hosted by the MSP WordPress User Group.
-John Havlik
[end of transmission, stay tuned]
BlogPress SEO is Malware
As with most scamming attempts, it all started with an email—which I ignored when I received it on Wednesday. It made claims of terrific SEO improvements using backlinks—yeah right. I do not use SEO enhancement plugins (other than Google XML sitemaps), and never plan on doing so. Anyways, the sender’s name as Saurabh, and his message was as follows:
Continue readingHello, My name is Saurabh, and I am here to offer you a unique wordpress plugin which will get you 100’s of backlinks like crazy. The plugin is 100% free and I can also offer installation help. http://BlogPressSEO.com Why backlinks are important for getting traffic. http://BlogPressSEO.com/#1 This is how the plugin works http://BlogPressSEO.com/#2 Thanks
Next WP Lynx Release Roadmap
It is time to lay out the roadmap for the next WP Lynx release or two. With WordPress 3.1 looming in the near future (month or so out), and its link/quote/etc posts (Post Formats) support for that is necessary and fits perfectly into the long term goals for WP Lynx. Support for this should exist by the end of the year.
Previously, I was going to skip the 0.3, and 0.4 releases, moving to 0.5 for the next release. Instead of doing this, I will keep with the normal development schedule, 0.3 will the be the next release and will be out before the end of November. New features and fixes planned for 0.3 include:
- URL shortener support, allow the user to set the included URL to be a shortened URL for TinyURL or other URL shortening services. This will have several tie ins, including Link Print template tags.
- Link Print templates, these will work similar to the anchor templates in Breadcrumb NavXT and will allow the user to automate changes to the default Link Print markup.
- Fix various bugs related to multi site support introduced with WordPress 3.0.
- Add support for full screen editor mode. At the moment, in full screen editor mode, the icon for adding a Link Print is missing. This requires a TinyMCE plugin for adding the button to be created.
These tasks for 0.3 have been listed in order of priority, any that do not make it to 0.3 will be rolled into 0.4. Speaking of 0.4, it is planned for late December/early January. Right now, the tasks for 0.4 are as follows:
- Tighter integration with WordPress 3.1 Post Formats.
- Rewrite scaping code to use the WordPress HTTP API, set as default but allow users to use old calling code if they desire to.
- Enhance the Link Print adding interface, allow user specified image cropping.
-John Havlik
[end of transmission, stay tuned]
WP Lynx 0.2.1
Available for immediate consumption, WP Lynx 0.2.1 has been released. After being notified two weeks ago of an issue with the install script, I meant to release a fix last week. Today, I realized that my initial fix did not work as expected—good thing I had not released 0.2.1 yet.
This is a very minor update, that will save new users headaches after first installing the plugin. This was verified to work as expected on WordPress 3.1-alpha. Note, there are some bugs when using WordPress in Network/Multi Site mode. I am looking into those, and will address them with another update.
-John Havlik
[end of transmission, stay tuned]