Someone just pointed out to me that the RSS button on my site is broken. I've taken some time to research the problem, and the culprit seems to be SH404SEF screwing up my URL's for the feeds. Booh!

I've fixed this problem for now. As you can see, there's a "Subscribe to RSS Feed" button on top of this page. What are you waiting for to click it!  Now that we've got a module over there anyway, I am working on setting up a newsletter to which you can subscribe. If you're interested, of course.

Thank you @twentronix for pointing out this problem! (Follow him, he knows his Joomla! stuff)

Joomlareporters’ Hosting Report (Part One)

Or “The definitive guide on why not to just buy any hosting.”

Introduction

“Quality Hosting! Huh! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing!”

The hosting for a website is, without discussion, the most important side of any web project. You can have the best design in the world, with the best and easiest to use CMS. You could have written truly epic content that will put a smile or tear on people’s face. You did everything right. You nailed it. This is the perfect site. You’ve done it.

But no-one will see your perfect site if it’s not hosted anywhere. You will need a place to host your website, so it can be admired by the rest of the world. This is something you can’t work around, no matter how smart you are.

So, hosting is pretty important. That’s why it’s so strange to see that people often make poor choices when it comes to hosting - often deliberately. People tend to choose the cheapest hosting, or buy hosting from that one company they saw in the last NASCAR race. Because it doesn’t matter where you host your site, right?

WRONG!!

If you have followed our advice, and upgraded as soon as humanly possible after we reported about the Joomla! hack, you might have noticed something strange.

If you used Admin Tools, you might have noticed that the Joomla! version number was shown multiple times in your website back-end. A strange sight indeed, but nothing you can't fix with some module surgery.  Here's how you get rid of those odd looking Joomla! 2.5.3 references in no time!

When you ask your clients what they expect of their site, they sometimes say the strangest things. Some time ago, one client had an interesting request. I wasn't there for the conversation but figure it went something like this.

Them: "We want to use an image of a tree on the top."
Designer: "Sure, no problem."
Them: "Great. We also want to change the image as the seasons change!"
Designer: "Ehmmm... let me see what I can do." 

After doing some research we found a way that makes this super easy to do.  It would be a shame if we didn't share that tip with you!  The trick is to use some module magic, powered by Advanced Module Manager by Nonumber. If you are insterested in finding out how to publish a different module for each season, then read on.

Earlier today, Joomla! users were urged to upgrade to Joomla! 2.5.3 immediately after a serious vulnernability has been reported.  Following simple steps, a user could gain access to your site and do all sorts of nasty things to you site. If you're using Joomla! 1.6, 1.7 or any 2.5 version PLEASE UPDATE TODAY.

Maybe you're trying to postpone it, by saying "How bad could it be?"  Want a demonstration? Then read on.

Hacked under 2 minutes

To hack my own site, I needed the following:

- Firefox in combination with Firebug. This is VERY, VERY BASIC stuff.

- knowledge of the exploit (obviously)

- An editor to create a "Hack site". (Just a harmless site).

In less than two minutes, the exploit allowed me to gain access to the 2.5.2 site that I set up moments before.  Once I had access, I managed to redirect visitors to a (harmless) site I control.  This page doesn't do anything, but try using some imagination following the steps below.

• Let's try to visit http://www.toralkoweb.net/joomla25nl , which is your business website.
• What's that? That's not your Joomla! site. It's a hacker site! And it's kicking your puppies!
• You're now panicking, worrying that ultra leet hackers hacked your site.

You'd be right to panick. Not so right on the leet part. Anyone could use this exploit to deface your site in 2 minutes. 

Update in less than two minutes

Know what takes less than two minutes, and which will keep your site safe? Updating your site to the latest version. We suggest using Admin Tools as it's the easiest way to do so.

He who hesitates, meditates on why he didn't do updates!