WordPress upgrades and patches
Hackers and you.
Having a static website is one thing - and hackers do try to crack these sites for fun and profit.
However because it is interactive, an online marketing website is a much bigger target. Hackers may see a possibility of obtaining access to financial information, identity information or other targets.
So managing an online marketing website means taking active steps to protect your site against hackers. OM4 can’t guarantee we will never be hacked (nobody can). However we do take active steps to defend against hackers.
All of these steps are quite technical, and require some experience and expertise to be able to do.
For many small business people who want to operate an online marketing website, these factors can prove to be a significant barrier to being more active online.
If you’ve been online for any time, you are probably familiar with being encouraged to stay up to date with software upgrades and patches.
An online marketing website typically allows a lot more interaction than a standard website, using forms, comments, email, carts and so on.
Providing this online interactivity means there are a number of important technical risks to manage. The regular application of software upgrades and patches is a key way of doing this (particularly where patches issued to address security vulnerabilities).
When technical risks are managed well, they are largely invisible. But if they aren’t managed, the very interactive features that are so attractive to prospective clients can create greater opportunities for a hacker to gain control of your site.
OM4 provides a managed service that applies upgrades and patches for you. So the good news is that you don’t need to be an expert.
Understanding what is occurring (while not having to be able to do it yourself) will give you peace of mind.
WordPress Software
A simple static website can use basic HTML pages that run with just Apache and Linux. A rich content website that supports interactive online marketing features is a lot more involved, and usually requires an underlying database (such as MySQL) and a scripting language (such as PHP).
Your OM4 site is based on WordPress open source software. WordPress itself runs on open source Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP software.
WordPress has a vibrant plugin community. Your OM4 site makes use of open source plugins as well as OM4 plugins specifically built to assist with online marketing.
WordPress Upgrades and Patches
Here are the upgrades and patches looked after for your OM4 WordPress site:
- WordPress Upgrades. Upgrades are issued relatively frequently, including new features as well as security updates. Where new features are involved, changes may be required to WordPress themes to make the new features available. This kind of upgrade also requires testing.
- WordPress Patches. If a security sensitive flaw is discovered, WordPress may issue a security patch that requires urgent attention.
- WordPress Plugins. Plugin authors issue upgrades and patches separately from WordPress.
- LAMP Software. Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP software underpins WordPress, and is also upgraded and patched from time to time.
OM4 applies upgrades and patches as required in these areas.