This post originally appeared in foXnoMad.
Those of you with travel blogs know that they don’t usually go down, get filled with nasty comments, or have the design fall apart…that is until you’re not in front of it for a day or two. There are some easy ways to maintain and lock up your travel blog when you’re traveling and keep things running smoothly until you return..
Depending on how you host your blog, some of these precautions may or may not apply.
Comment Moderation
Unless you already moderate all of your comments, when you can’t be at your travel blog for a few days it’s a good idea not to allow every comment to be posted until you get a chance to approve them. I know that for many this might make you worry about slowing or discouraging conversations but it can save you a headache from filtering out spam, off-topic, and nasty comments when you return.
Change Your Password
Create a long (at least 10 character) randomly generated password for your blog before you leave on your trip. The Gibson Research Corporation has a free random password generator you can use. Write it down and keep it with you so you can log in to your account once you can bum a wi-fi signal.
- I also recommend using the Login Lockdown plugin if you use WordPress. It locks out access to your WordPress blog login for 60 minutes attempts after 3 incorrect attempts. It’s a good deterrent against brute force attacks on your blog password.
Ask A Blog Buddy
Find someone who you know is online quite a bit to check in to your blog from time to time to see if it’s up and running well. Make sure you really trust the friend or family member and give them the instructions and (newly created random server and blog) passwords to reset things in case your blog decides to hiccup while you’re hiking in the Andes.
- It’s a good idea to change your passwords when you return, preferably still using longer, randomly-generated passwords.
Wait To Make Those Design Changes
New plugins, themes, and other design changes should be avoided right before you go. This can be tough because many times right before traveling you have free time to tinker with your blog after preparing some quick things to write when you’re traveling. I’d also recommend carefully editing and rereading the posts you’ve prepared, you don’t want to write about a raping flight attendant instead of a rapping one like I did. (Guess when that happened – when I was traveling and couldn’t fix it right away.)
What Steps Do You Take, Any?
I got the idea to write this post after misreading somewhere else ‘How to Keep Your Bags Safe’ for “blogs safe”. It got me thinking about our little virtual homes that people all over the world can visit while we travel. Bloggers, what precautions or preparations do you make to maintain your travel blog when you know you won’t be right in front of it for a few days, if anything?
[photo by: Looking Glass, US Army Korea – IMCOM]
This post originally appeared in foXnoMad.
