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Mark

Webdesign

Detecting Malicious Codes Hidden Within WordPress Themes/Plugins

Step 1: Check for Virus and Trojans

After downloading the plugin or theme, the first thing you should do is to check for virus, trojans and other worms that you may not like it.

Go to VirusTotal.com and upload the zip file to check for virus.

If your file is infected you will get a red signal and if not then you can move on to next step.

 

Step 2: Check for unwanted codes in Plugins

Now lets check for unwanted codes in plugins using another WordPress plugin called Exploit Scannerwhich can be securely downloaded from WordPress website.

After installing it go to Dashboard > Tools > Exploit Scanner and run the scan. It will take some time to complete the scan and the time depends on number of plugins you have installed.

After the scan you can see a list of codes that are suspected. You can use the browser search function to find the plugins that you installed from outside WordPress repository.

 

Step 3: Check for Theme authenticity

Adding a backlink in a free theme is very common technique but you can easily find those exploited themes by the plugin called Theme Authenticity Checker (TAC).

Install the plugin and go to Dashboard > Appearance > TAC

You can see the list of themes installed with their authenticity result. It will give a warning if any encrypted links are found in a theme.

Marketing

100 Best Social Media Marketing Techniques

The following list covers pretty much everything you could possibly post on social media. From personal, to business-related, to promotional posts, this list will keep you inspired for a long time.

1. Quotes: Humorous, inspiring or motivational quotes always perform well.

2. Fill-in-the-blank posts (e.g. “If I had $1 million I would _________”)

3. Polls: While Facebook offers built-in polls, I find running them manually works best for boosting engagement (e.g. “Which of these books is your favorite?”)

4. Behind-the-scenes photos: Take candid shots of yourself, your employees, or snap a shot of your office or workspace.

5. Statistics or data: Share new, relevant industry statistics (these perform great in terms of retweets and shares)

6. Post a link to an old blog post: There’s nothing wrong with recycling, and old posts will gain new engagement, extending their life.

7. Questions: Pose simple, basic questions that your followers can answer quickly.

8. Link to a guest post: Share (or re-share) a link to a post you contributed to another site. If you’re interested in learning how and why guest blogging should be part of your online strategy.

9. Post a branded image: Post a funny or inspirational image with your logo or website URL on it.

10. Infographics: Find an infographic your followers would appreciate.

11. Product photos: Work best on sites like Pinterest or Instagram. Think about how you can add a unique angle to the shots (e.g. an employee actually using the product, a customer-submitted photo, etc.).

12. Photos that have nothing to do with your products or business:Instead, they convey the feeling behind your brand. For instance, how Starbucks shares photos on Instagram to associate their brand with sunshine, warmth, and good friends (not just coffee).

13. Behind-the-scenes product shots: Photos of your products being manufactured or sourced.

14. Link to a controversial blog post: There’s nothing better for eliciting engagement than a little controversy.

15. Ask for input on your products:Your followers will love giving their thoughts on how to improve your products.

16. Let Pinterest inspire you:Pinterest is a goldmine in terms of finding beautiful images you can share (particularly images with quotes). Just be sure to give proper credit.

17. Share a helpful resource: If you’re truly concerned about sharing the most useful info with your followers, don’t be afraid to direct them to other people’s valuable content (not just your own).

18. Post a Slideshare presentation:If you want to find one that’s already proven itself to be popular, go to the ‘Trending in Social Media’ section at the bottom of the Slideshare homepage.

19. Link to a case study: Case studies are great for delivering useful info in a way that’s often more palatable and actionable than a standard blog post.

20. Link to an industry-related IFTTT recipe: Haven’t heard of IFTTT(short for If This Then That)? You need to check it out. Then share a link to a recipe your followers would find useful.

21. Ask for reviews or testimonials:Eliciting reviews from fans or followers is one of the best ways to get testimonials you can use as social proof on your website.

22. Fan photos: Search for hashtags related to your business or products, and share a customer photo on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.

23. Recommend a tool: Share a (preferably free) tool or resource you think your followers would find useful.

24. Share a favorite book: Similar to #23, share a book recommendation your fans or followers would appreciate.

25. A day in the life post: Give a recap of a typical day in the life of a graphic designer, author, CEO, etc.

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Social Media
Marketing

The Trick’s of Writing Killer Social Media Headlines. Copy & paste-able examples.

The key to writing better post headlines/subjects is in understanding why people take action. Great headlines usually fall into 3 categories.

  • Social Proof
  • Threat
  • Gain

 

Social Proof

Smart marketing almost always incorporates social proof, which basically is people that make choices based on other peoples choices.

Look at these 3 examples.

  1. Why 1000’s of Mancunians will gather in Victoria station on December 10th.
  2. What Victoria Beckham is eating as a midnight snack?
  3. The new wordpress Social Media/SEO plug-in everyone is talking about.

The 1st and 3rd headlines are common social proof headlines while the 2nd is a Piggyback headline. The headline piggybacks off of the popularity of Victoria Beckham.

 

Threat

Often, people will be more motivated to take action to avoid pain than gain benefit.

Well crafted threat headlines, promise that you’ll be able to protect yourself from a threat if you take action.

Examples..

  1. The big lie hiding in your flat rental contract.
  2. Warning, do not buy another gram of cat food until you read this!
  3. Is your mattress harmful to your health?

 

Gain

Now the easiest way to craft a headline is to simple state the benefit.

Such as..

  1. Who wants quiet, well-behaved kids?
  2. Give me 5 minutes and i’ll show you how to learn any language fluently in 3 months.
  3. How we acquired 100k early bird signups with a 0 marketing budget.

 

 

Some copy & paste-able headlines for you to use as you wish!

 

Social Proof Headlines

• Here is a Method That is Helping [world class example] to [blank]
• [blank] Hacking With [world class example]
• Savvy|Smart|Sexy People Do XYZ
• Why I [blank] (And Maybe You Should Too)
• [Do something] like [world-class example]
• The [desired result] That [world class example] Is Talking About
• Join [impressive number] of Your Peers that [take desired action]
• [desired result] Like A [desired group or person]
• How [impressive number] Got [desired result] in [time period]
• Like [world class example] You Can [desired result]
• [world class example] Reveals Ways To [desired result]
• Why [impressive number] of People are [taking desired action]
• A Simple Way To [desired result] That Works For [desired group/person]
• How to [desired result] Like [world class example]

 

Threat Headlines

• Do You Recognize the [number] Early Warning Signs of [blank]?
• If You Don’t [blank] Now, You’ll Hate Yourself Later
• I’ve Lied to You for [time period] Now
• The Biggest Lie In [your industry]
• X Shocking Mistakes Killing Your [blank]
• Don’t Try [blank] Without [desired action] First
• [blank] May Be Dangerous To [something precious]
• [blank] May Be Causing You To Lose Out On [desired result]
• At Last, The Secret To [desired result] Is Revealed
• The [blank] Risk Hiding In Your [blank]
• Why you shouldn’t [do what I desire them to do]
• Why [blank] Fails and [blank] Succeeds
• Do Not Try Another [blank] Until You [take desired action]
• The Ugly Truth About [blank]
• What Your [blank] Won’t Tell You And How It Can Save You [blank]
• What Everybody Ought to Know About [blank]
• Your [blank] Doesn’t Want You To Read This [blank]
• The Sooner You Know [blank] The Better

 

Gain Headlines

• Where [desired result] Is And How To Get It
• Discover The [desired result] Secret
• [blank] Your Way To A [desired result] You
• To People That Want To [desired result] But Can’t Get Started
• You, a [desired result]
• Stop [undesired result]
• You Too Can [desired result] in [time period] with [blank]
• How To Become [desired result] When You [something challenging]
• There’s Big [desired result] In [blank]
• You Don’t Have to Be [something challenging] to be [desired result]
• Little Known Ways to [blank]
• How to turn [blank] into [desired result]
• How To Build a [blank] You Can Be Proud Of

 

Bookmark this page for when you are in need of headline inspiration and watch your social media traffic boom.

Marketing, Webdesign

Setup an HTML email signature on your iPhone.

  1. Send Yourself an Email with Your Signature

    Send yourself an email with your desired email signature. Obviously you will need a currently operational signature from another mail program on your computer.

    If you don’t yet have an HTML signature, here is some example code to get you started.
    (A separate post on how to do this will be coming soon)

  1. Copy Your Signature to the Clipboard

    Tap and hold your finger on some part of the email body that is not a link. Drag the little knobs at the end to surround your signature as best as possible. When surrounded, tap “Copy”.IMG_5647

  2. Paste Your Copied Signature

    Go Settings > Mail > Contacts > Calendars > Signatures. In here paste your signature for all email accounts, or for each one if you would prefer. Tap twice in the empty box and select “Paste” from the popup menu.

  3. Shake to Undo

    Apple tries to “enhance” the signature when you paste it, causing it to become all messed up. Luckily, you can undo these “enhancements”. Shake your device and press “Undo Change Attributes”.

  4. Send email

Mind

How to actually beat procrastination

Your first thought as you read this will likely be, “I’ll read this later.”

Don’t! Read this now!

It’ll take you like 30 seconds and save you countless hours.

Try this super simple technique for beating our favourite nemesis. Procrastination.

Try this now:

Decide what is the most important thing you have to do today.

Now just do the first little part of it — just the first minute, or even 30 seconds of it. Getting started is seriously the only part that matters.

It’s a little brain hack, once we start a task we have been dreading a new emotion takes it’s place in which we feel incomplete that we haven’t finished it! The problem is just getting started.

Emmetts Law: The dread of a task uses up more energy than actually doing it.

Clear away your distractions. Turn everything off. Close all programs. So it’s just you and your task.

Listen to your mind, if it starts to have sway to other tasks. You might have urges to check email or Facebook or Twitter or any other distracting nonsense. You might want to play a game or make a call or do another task. Just notice these urges.

Don’t move. Notice the urges, but sit still and let them pass. Urges build up in intensity, then they pass, like a wave. Let each one pass.

Notice also your mind trying to come up with reasons for not doing the task. Let these self-rationalizing thoughts pass also.

Now just take one small action to get started. As tiny a step as possible.

Once you get started, the rest will flow.

design

Creative Packaging Design At It’s Best.

We are surrounded with packaging… From Cereal boxes on waking up to toothpaste tubes at bed time. The majority of consumers judge the quality of product by it’s packaging and with so many products out there, packaging design is important. To be truly effective packaging today has to break away from the standard rules and styles to give the product a unique edge to make it stand out. Here are some wonderful examples.

Just Laid Eggs Design Packaging

Just Laid Eggs

Pencil 53 Design & Packaging

Pencil 53

Tabasco Pepper Sauce Design & Packaging

Tabasco Pepper Sauce

Trident Teeth Friendly Gum

Trident Teeth Friendly Gum

Kroger Pretzel

Kroger Pretzel

Spaghettini Rebolver Pasta Packaging

 

Spaghettini Rebolver Pasta Packaging

Jollypop

Jollypop

Quartz Champagne

Quartz Champagne

24 Bottles

24 Bottles

8T5 'TEA' Shirts

8T5 ‘TEA’ Shirts

Wally Home

Wally Home

Bang&Olufsen Play

Bang&Olufsen Play

 

Bazaar Pizza Bases

Bazaar Pizza Bases

Paradise Gourmet Club

Paradise Gourmet Club

Rotating Ring Presentation Case

Rotating Ring “Blooming Flower” Presentation Case

design

The art behind the art of logo design

The creation process of dzn’s hawk logo.

Brief
We sat down to brainstorm ideas and pretty much hit upon a hawk straight away. It represents our mantra perfectly.. ‘be seen’.

Research
We studied some images of hawks & videos of them in-flight, just to get a feel for this awesome animal and a basis on which to start sketching out some ideas.

hawk dzn logo research

Sketch time
After a few initial doodles, we start to refine our favourite concepts.

 

Selection time
We chose the logo for it’s simplicity, elegance, scalability, B&W & would work well for a landing animation.
(check out the menu)

Logo doodles hawk dzn

 

The crafting of the logo on the mac begins.
Using Geometric, golden-ratio principles, we forge out the shape of the hawk, to create a visually appealing shape. Numbers can be beautiful!

Once satisfied, we settle on this logo. Then we fan through various colour options.

Dzn Hawk Logo Creation Process

Et Voila
Like it?

dzn logo