Congratulations George North!
Posted on March 01, 2021
What a weekend! George North wins his 100th cap for Wales and beats England 40-24 in the process to take the Triple Crown!
Ramblings of a North Walian web designer and developer
Upgrading Craft CMS to 3.4
Posted on January 30, 2020
Having tried dozens of content management systems (CMS) over the years including rolling my own, by far the best I've found has been Craft. Intuitive to use and extremely flexible from both a development and end user point of view it is a no brainer to recommend it for clients.
It's time to secure your website
Posted on July 25, 2018
I have previously written about the importance of SSL security certificates to keep your website and your visitors secure. Even if the security element wasn’t a good enough reason for you to do so (it is!) there were also SEO benefits.
Keeping your websites up to date
Posted on July 05, 2018
One thing that is often overlooked when choosing a website hosting provider is updates and upgrades. With most hosting providers the responsibility lies with the client to make sure the website is kept up to date with any security, performance or features updates.
Introducing Hwb Creadigol
Posted on June 25, 2018
I am proud to introduce you to Hwb Creadigol, a collaboration of specialist creative companies based in M-Sparc Science Park in Gaerwen.
Moving on up
Posted on February 26, 2018
After working for nigh on 15 years from my home office it is now time to move into a dedicated office space. I have considered moving for a number of years but the right space wasn't available. Until now.
The IP address was already used for trialing - KernelCare
Posted on June 01, 2017
Recently I had installed the KernelCare extension for Plesk which seemed an useful addition to a server. All seemed to be well until I started to receive an email from the server every four hours a month after enabling the extension.
Video "views" are the new website "hits"
Posted on November 18, 2016
Creating video content has never been easier than it is today. Even smartphones have the ability to record HD and—in the higher end models—4K video. Drones have also become easily accessible and more affordable and can produce high quality, stunning imagery.
The importance of SSL security certificates
Posted on October 07, 2016
You may not know what a SSL security certificate is but you will definitely have used one. In fact you are using one right now browsing this article.
6 months in web design
Posted on October 06, 2016
As I write this I find it really hard to believe that the summer is over and that we are rushing headlong towards the winter months.
Choosing the right content management system
Posted on July 12, 2016
In today’s crowded internet world it is increasingly more important to add new, high quality content to your website on a regular basis.
Apple iPad Pro 9.7" review
Posted on April 11, 2016
My iPad 3 has been showing its age recently. I think the latest version iOS is too much for it. It has become less responsive, with apps showing a very noticeable lag in performance.
Time to upgrade your browser
Posted on January 05, 2016
Microsoft have announced that as of 12th January 2016 support for older versions of Internet Explorer ends.
PHP 7 now available for even faster website hosting!
Posted on December 10, 2015
I’m extremely pleased to announce that a major new version of the server-side scripting language, PHP 7 is available for websites hosted on D13 Creative servers.
Protecting Plesk 12.5 from Logjam TLS Diffie-Hellman vulnerability
Posted on October 14, 2015
I have already covered securing Plesk against weak Diffie-Helman and the Logjam Attack in a previous post. So, when setting up a new server running Plesk where better to look than my own blog to remember how to do it?
I have a Facebook page, why do I need a website?
Posted on August 27, 2015
A Facebook page costs nothing, is easy to set up and is a great way to connect and share the latest news and offers with your customers.
Time to review your backup strategy
Posted on July 09, 2015
First thing this morning I had a phone call from a client about a virus on their Windows PC. Virus removal is not a service I provide but I have removed a few over the years for clients who were unable to do so themselves.
Finding spam sending scripts in Plesk
Posted on June 22, 2015
I take great care in keeping client websites up to date with the latest security updates for their content management systems and plugins. I also take measures to ensure that sites hosted by me do not send email spam.
WordPress needs access to your web server
Posted on June 21, 2015
I was in the process of updating a WordPress installation which I had inherited from another developer and which was installed on a different server environment to mine when I came across the notice:
Great content, great website
Posted on May 22, 2015
More often than not when I am approached to design and develop a website for a client the most important aspect of the site—the content—has been largely overlooked, barely given a second thought.
Is your website mobile friendly?
Posted on February 09, 2015
Making a website “mobile friendly" is not a new concept. Ethan Marcotte coined the term “responsive web design" back in 2010 to describe an approach to web design which provides an optimal viewing experience regardless of the screen resolution of the device you were using to view the website.
Sending localised emails from a Craft CMS plugin
Posted on January 25, 2015
I've been using the Craft content management system (CMS) for over a year now. It is by far the best CMS I have ever used from both perspectives of developer and end user.
Enabling SPDY for Nginx in Plesk on CentOS
Posted on November 09, 2014
Plesk 12 ships with nginx 1.6 which implements the SPDY module. SPDY is a networking protocol whose goal is to speed up the web. In tests performed by Google it was shown that there was a speed up of 27% - 60% in page load time over plain TCP (without SSL), and 39% - 55% over SSL.
The web is... amazing!
Posted on November 08, 2014
The 12th of March 2014 marked the 25th anniversary of the invention of the World Wide Web by Sir Tim Berners-Lee. To celebrate, Craig Lockwood and his team organised The Web Is.. conference in Cardiff on 30/31st October 2014 which I had the pleasure to attend.
Enabling TLS 1.2 on CentOS server running Plesk and Nginx
Posted on September 12, 2014
I already had SSL enabled on my linux server but according to tests it was using TLS level 1.0, not the more secure 1.2 and hence I only scored a B in the test. Here's a brief guide to how I enabled TLS 1.2 on my server and improved the grade to an A. Please note some of these steps will be specific to my server setup so they may not work for you. I will assume a basic knowledge of the terminal.
Fast, reliable web hosting
Posted on June 16, 2014
Choosing website hosting can be a daunting task. With so many hosting companies to choose from, deciding who to go with is difficult enough, let alone which package. Windows? Linux? Beginner? Business? Basic? Unlimited? The options are endless.
Focus on your own business
Posted on April 03, 2014
So, today I received an email from a very good client of mine after he received an unsolicited approach from a local web design company offering a “free website health check”.
Time to say goodbye
Posted on March 12, 2014
The end is nigh! After 12 years, support for Windows XP will officially end on April 8, 2014.
Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics
Posted on February 17, 2014
It’s 2014 and yet it seems there are still people use “hits” believing it to be a reilable metric for the success of their website—or web design clients’ websites. Why is this a problem? Well, it’s because it is often used interchangeably with “visits” to give the impression that a website is far more successful and popular than it actually is.
Milton Keynes Geek Night All Dayer
Posted on January 26, 2014
Another month, another conference. After the joys of Handheld I hadn't planned on attending any—at least not this early—in the year but was tempted by the line up and the number of friends that were attending.
Using SpamGuard with ContactForm for Craft*
Posted on January 03, 2014
I’ve been working a lot using Craft CMS recently. It’s a relative newcomer on the CMS block but already has a lot going for it. However, the downside of being fairly new on the scene is that the plugin community isn’t as large as other platforms such as WordPress and consequently there aren’t as many options available to extend or enhance the core system.
2013 a web design odyssey
Posted on December 24, 2013
2013 is nearly at an end and here I am, writing an end of year blog post. Finally!
Handheld Conference 2013
Posted on December 01, 2013
I’ve just returned from a few days down in Cardiff although not just for the rugby for a change! No, the main attraction was Handheld Conference 2013.
So long, New Adventures, and thanks for all the fish*
Posted on January 28, 2013
2013 saw the final (possibly, for now at least) New Adventures in Web Design Conference held in Nottingham, but what a way to go out!
Register your domain name
Posted on December 27, 2012
If you’re running a business or even thinking of starting one, one of the first things you should do is to choose a domain name. Starting from as little as around £3 a year for a .co.uk address or £8 for a .com address there really is no reason for you not to have one.