A worm has been spreading that breaks sites running out of date versions of Wordpress by attacking a vulnerability fixed nearly a month ago. If you have a web site, you have a responsibility to keep the software that runs it up to date. Period.
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When I converted HDTVok.com from phpWebsite to Wordpress two years ago, I added user forums with the XDForum plug-in. In fact, the wide availability of plug-ins was a major reason why I chose Wordpress for the conversion.
Unfortunately, the authors of XDForum announced they were stopping development of the plug-in in February, which effectively meant it was orphaned as Wordpress moved forward. I have no problem with that as it’s easy to get over extended and decide you have to drop things that aren’t generating income.
When I did the conversion to Wordpress, I could have chosen to use BBPress for the site’s forums, but at that time it wasn’t part of the Wordpress family and as well integrated as far as users go. Because I want to keep all my Wordpress sites up to date going forward, I converted the XDForum database to BBPress and this post is an explanation of one way that can be accomplished.
This year could be called the Year of Wordpress as every web project we did involved the use of this impressive open source blogging and content management system. But it could also be called a year of change in that we began a journey back in time to a past career in the film business.
The year started with phone call to Dennis Whiteman asking if he would be interested in teaching a journalism class at Oklahoma State University called Internet Communications. The course involved creating content for the internet and Wordpress provided an excellent platform for elevating students. who had limited practical computer skills, to the role of internet publishers.
In October 2001, I set up a web site called hdtvok.com to track the digital television transition in Oklahoma. At the time, none of the local TV stations were broadcasting, despite my having spent a long, hot day in September putting up an outdoor UHF TV antenna that I had read would let me receive free HDTV programming.
Nearly five years later, all of the stations in Oklahoma City and most in Tulsa now have transmitters sending out digital signals that can be received around the state. In Oklahoma City, there are six TV stations that broadcast HDTV at least some hours of every day.
Last weekend, I completed the transition of this site from an older web technology to one that will let it grow as a community site. Not only does this site have a new, improved modern design, but it is the most accessible site I have done in 11 years of creating web sites.
In the transition, nearly 3000 articles ranging from announcements as each DTV station went on the air to tips on navigating the often difficult customer support mechanisms at cable outlets, satellite operators and TV stations. More than 13,000 comments have been posted by nearly 1,000 users.