Is my Website Impacted By The log4j Vulnerability?

You may have seen news about the recent log4j vulnerability issue that is currently circulating. We’re hoping to provide some short insight, and help you ensure that your website is safe and secure.

log4j is a component for Java servlets. If your website is using WordPress, it is using PHP as its server side language (not Java). Most smaller WordPress websites themselves will not be affected by this vulnerability, however websites with third party integrations and plugins may be using software that relies on Java programming.

The best way to protect your website from any vulnerabilities is to ensure that your website software and all plugins are up-to-date. If you are concerned about this vulnerability, or future potential ones, our recommendation is to update your website software to the most recent, stable versions.

At Iceberg, we take security vulnerabilities very seriously, and have maintenance plans in place to ensure our customers websites remain secure.

If you need website help, or have questions about your website’s security, you can always contact our team online or give us a call at 763-350-8762.

The post Answering log4j Vulnerability Questions appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

At Iceberg Web Design, we have an entire team of penguins dedicated to helping you solve your business dilemmas with web-based solutions. Our newest developer is Josh Smith. Today in our Penguin Profile, we will be talking to Josh to learn more about him and what he does at Iceberg.

Josh | Senior Developer Penguin

How long have you been working for Iceberg? 

I started working at Iceberg in February, 2021.

Have your duties changed since you first started working here? 

Even though I haven’t been at Iceberg all that long, I’ve worked on some really exciting projects. I really enjoy the mix of working on new projects and providing support to existing customers.

What do you do for Iceberg’s customers? 

I help our customers create or enhance their online presence in a way that reflects their business values and goals. Using the latest web technologies, I make sure that our solutions work well and follow the highest standards for functionality, accessibility, and design.

What’s your favorite part of your job? 

I really enjoy working with customers and coming up with innovative solutions. I also like constantly learning the latest in digital technology and marketing. 

What is your #1 goal when working with a customer? 

My #1 goal is to understand the customer, what their business objectives are, and how we can bring all of their vision to their website.

In what other industries have you worked? 

I’ve worked in IT, product development, ecommerce, digital marketing and web development.

Tell us a bit about your family (including pets): 

My wife and I have 2 kids, a dog and a couple fish.

Do you have any hobbies/special interests? 

I enjoy playing guitar, discovering new music, reading great books, and mountain biking with the family.

What is something about you that might surprise your customers and co-workers? 

My wife and I have taken on many DIY home & garden projects over the years. Our kids are now reaching the age where it’s fun to teach them some of the skills we’ve learned.

Describe your perfect day: 

Wake up early enough to watch the sunrise with a good cup of coffee. Then a day filled with some work, reading, listening to music and a bike or motorcycle ride. And a perfect day would always include trying out a new recipe and having time to cook a great meal.

Science or History? Which is your favorite and why? 

I really like both, but as a sociology major, I’ve probably studied a lot more history and do find it fascinating how much history repeats itself.

If you were guaranteed the correct answer to one question, what would you ask? 

What is the secret to eternal happiness?

What is your best piece of advice? It can be about anything. 

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

Connect with Josh and the Iceberg Team

Thank you, Josh, for sharing a bit about yourself for this week’s Penguin Profile. And thank you for all you do to build our customer’s website projects in a way that will meet their business objectives even better than they imagined possible. 

Learn more about The Iceberg Team. Read Some Of Iceberg’s Reviews!

The post Penguin Profile: Josh Smith, Developer | Iceberg Web Design appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

When you intern with Iceberg Web Design, you work with an entire team of web marketing professionals to learn and grow. We have been spending time getting to know some of our full-time employees pictured above, but today we will get to know our intern, Cece Talbot. We are helping our business, and our community grow by giving opportunities to new people to the website industry, and we can’t wait to see all that Cece will acomplish.

Cece | Design Intern Penguin

If you could describe Iceberg in three words, what would they be?

Fun, Caring, and innovative 

What have you enjoyed so far about working for Iceberg?

The Creative freedom, ability to learn so many things in different areas, and I enjoy coming into the office to be with great people.

What do you do for Iceberg’s customers?

Help design mock-ups, websites, and fill in the content.

What’s your favorite part of your job?

Building mock-ups; It’s fun to watch how much it changes as you create, change layouts, colors, features, and build out new ways to navigate. Creating Style tiles is fun. Taking words and matching them with images, fonts, colors to make the company’s message come to life. 

What is your #1 goal when working with a customer?

Creating something they love and something that not only can help their business grow but something that can grow with the business.

In what other industries have you worked?

I worked in the Dance industry my whole life. From working in LA, Atlanta, Chicago in front of the camera to working behind the stage and in the studio. Creating is what I love to do, whether it’s on a computer screen or on the stage. Dance also led me to start my own Dance equipment business. I have also worked in the restaurant industry. 

Non-Work Related Stuff

Tell us a bit about your family.

My mom is my best friend and someone I’ll take on every trip with me. I got my love for fast cars from my dad, who used to drag race and had a mud truck my whole life. The best memories with my dad are going to his races and mudding! I also have an older brother who I can always count on. I can never forget about my dog Ziggy!

Do you have any hobbies/special interests?

DANCE and Fast cars. Although I love dance and fashion with two walk-closets full of sneakers and clothes, I am not your typical girly girl. I will get my hands dirty and change a front rotor, or go wheels deep in a mud pit!

Describe your perfect day

Sunny blue skies hanging with my dog and family, definitely staying busy with activities if it’s the farmers market, swimming, or trail riding.

Now for Some Deep Stuff

Science or History? Which is your favorite and why?

BOTH. I am a big history snob and know a lot of weird random facts about history and science, especially astronomy. 

If you were guaranteed the correct answer to one question, what would you ask?

Is there a way I can live forever?

One last question: What is your best piece of advice? It can be about anything.

“It’s all good.” 

Connect With  the Iceberg Team

 Thank you, Cece, for sharing a bit about yourself for this week’s Penguin Profile. And thank you for all you do to keep our customer’s design projects running smoothly. 

Learn more about The Iceberg Team. Read Some Of Iceberg’s Reviews!

The post Penguin Profile: Cece Talbot | Iceberg Web Design appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

When you work with Iceberg Web Design, you work with an entire team of web marketing professionals. But just who are these people who are hard at work helping you connect with your customers? For the next couple of months, we will be profiling our team of penguins. Today we are talking with our Project Penguin: Mariann Martin. Mariann is our Project Manager, so every website client we take on will work with her throughout the website creation process.

Mariann | Project Penguin

As Iceberg’s Project Manager, Mariann keeps everything running smoothly and on track. She is adept at identifying potential problems and prevents issues from arising with her proactive approach.

How long have you worked for Iceberg?

Since April 17th, 2017

Have your duties changed since you first started working here?

Yes, I started as the CSR (Customer Service Representative), Project Manager, accounts receivable person.  Then I added content writing to that role.  After that, I dropped the CSR role.  And then added the VP of Finance role and dropped the content writing. Now I’m the Project Manager and VP of Finance

What do you do for Iceberg’s customers?

I am the main point of contact for customers when they have an open, active project.  I plan and organize their project within their scope of work and schedule our product calendar. I also handle all client billing.

What’s your favorite part of your job?

I like learning about the different businesses we serve.

What is your #1 goal when working with a customer?

To deliver on time and in scope.  Preferably early and over-deliver.

In what other industries have you worked?

Radio, Retail, and Automotive

Tell us a bit about your family (including pets):

I have a husband named Alexander (whom I call Alex). We got married in 2019.

Do you have any hobbies/special interests?

We keep plants, a lot of them, and hope to have someday a conservatory or year-round greenhouse full of them.

Although I have not done this much in recent years due to lack of space, I also sew. I hope to be able to do it more when I have a dedicated space for it soon. In addition, I love to make clothes from my designs.

Describe your perfect day:

To be at home with my husband and later have friends and family over for brunch and games.

Science or History? Which is your favorite and why?

Definitely history. It’s fascinating.  The history you learn in school is so limited, so there is always more out there to learn.

If you were guaranteed the correct answer to one question, what would you ask?

What are the meanings of life, the universe, and everything?

What is your best piece of advice? It can be about anything.

Drink more water.

Connect With Mariann or the Iceberg Team

There you have it. Thank you, Mariann, for sharing a bit about yourself for this week’s Penguin Profile. And thank you for all you do to keep our customer’s website projects running smoothly. 

Learn more about The Iceberg Team. Read Some Of Iceberg’s Reviews!

The post Penguin Profile:Mariann Martin | Iceberg Web Design appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

Features are notable additions to a website that make it unique and useful to your visitors and your company. These features are also more challenging to design, so often, they add an extra charge to your bill. The good news is, they are usually well worth it!

In this article, we will look at 3 of the most basic features or add-ons to your site:

•         Transfer of a WordPress Blog
•         Custom Post Type
•         Photo Galleries

Transfer of a WordPress Blog.

Often when clients come to us, they have an old site with many blog posts. All of these URLs are valuable for SEO. If we pull them off the web, any backlinks or bookmarks people may have saved will end up leading to a 404-error page, telling the user that the page can’t be found. This is an easy way to lose a potential customer, and your site’s SEO will take a significant hit.

To prevent this, we always recommend transferring your WordPress blog to your new site. Anything you don’t want to move over, we will redirect you to your new home page during the site’s development.

Custom Post Type

WordPress is an extensive content management system (CMS). WordPress content is arranged by post types and by default by:

•         Post
•         Page

Anytime you have content that isn’t a post or a page, you can create a custom post type. Perhaps you are selling something. The most popular custom post type is Woo Commerce products. A product page would be a custom post type.

Other examples would be:

•         Book Reviews
•         Movies (for a movie theater)
•         Services

Anything. The main thing about a custom post type is that it will have customized fields to input data. Let’s look at the example of movies. You might have fields for:

•         Movie Title
•         Synopsis
•         Starring
•         Rating
•         Showtimes
•         A ticket buy button

This will create consistency in the appearance of the movie pages. Also, the movies will all be organized together on the backend of the site, making them easy to find.

Photo Galleries

Photo galleries are a great way to show off your services. If you own a construction or remodeling company, you can display pictures of the homes or businesses you have built or remodeled. If you are a Salon owner, you can show examples of your work, such as adding hairstyles, highlights, haircuts, etc.

We can use plugins to display your photos beautifully. Some plugins will integrate your photos with social media, such as Pinterest or Instagram.

Creating a website can be a complicated process. Our team of WordPress Experts does it every day, so you don’t have to. If you want a new website for your business, contact us today!

The post WordPress Features Including Blog Transfers, Custom Post Types, & Photo Galleries appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.

•         Improve Security
•         Fix Bugs
•         Adding Features and Functionality

Improve Security

The best way to improve your WordPress site’s security is to update your WordPress themes and plugins. While you are at it, remove any plugins that you don’t use to minimize the risk of a hacker exploiting them. There has an uptick in attacks on WordPress sites lately, so it’s a good idea to make it as challenging as possible for hackers to get into yours.

One Customer’s Story of Getting Hacked

We recently worked with a customer whose site got hacked. Thankfully, we found the issue the day it happened and removed all the malicious code. We then had to restore the site, update all security keys and reset all the account passwords, which was time-consuming and expensive for the customer. The plugins were all out of date, the WordPress core was two full versions behind current, so while it is impossible to know precisely how the breach happened, the most likely culprit was the WordPress core being so out of date.

Fix Bugs

Updating WordPress plugins and themes also fixes bugs and general conflicts between plugins. While some people become annoyed when they see it is time to update, again, they should feel good about the fact that the developer of the plugin or theme is doing their due diligence to release an update when they have found something that can adversely affect your website either now or in the future.

One Customer’s Story of a Buggy Plugin

A recent story Recently, a customer’s form stopped working because the ReCaptcha wouldn’t validate. The issue turned out to be a conflict with the Autoptimize plugin – which is used to make your site faster by optimizing CSS, JS, Images, Google fonts, and more. – Seems unrelated, right? But updating the plugin solved the ReCaptcha issue.

Adding Features and Functionality

Updating your WordPress Plugins isn’t just about security and squashing bugs. It’s also done to ensure you have the most up-to-date features and functionality available for your website. Developers work hard to create plugins. So reputable developers will release updates when they learn that there is an issue with the plugin they need to fix or improve. Sometimes they even make special requests.

WP Docs

We had used WP Docs on websites to organize forms for customers in the past and liked how it worked. It did lack one thing, however. It didn’t let you sort the documents by date. This was a feature that one of our customers wanted for their website, so our developer contacted the plugin author to see if they could help. They agreed it was a great idea and said they would include it with the next update. Sure enough, when version 1.7.3 was released, sorting the documents by date was part of the premium features.

Updating Your Plugins Is Easy

Why Should You Keep Your WordPress Plugins Updated? Because it can be made super easy! Iceberg Web Design customers can purchase quarterly or monthly maintenance packages and get all their plugins updated and their forms tested regularly by our website professionals. Contact us today to learn more!

The post Why You Should Keep WordPress Plugins Updated appeared first on Iceberg Web Design.