Ever wished there was a quick way to access all your Genesis related items right from your dashboard? Well there is!

The Genesis Toolbar Extras plugin is accessible from your WordPress admin bar.

Easy access to the support forum, tutorials, community tutorials and showcase to name a few.

Check it out here

Genesis Toolbar Extras – A Plugin from David Decker @ DECKERWEB

A post on the Genesis forums today was asking about theme security. As I said on the forum the best way to secure your theme is to secure your site.

The WordPress codex is a great place to start gathering information. See the Hardening WordPress article.

To help beef up security via your .htaccess file place this in the file directly after

# END WordPress

# to protect the .htaccess file itself:
<Files .htaccess>
order deny,allow
deny from all
</Files>

# to protect wp-config.php
<Files wp-config.php>
order allow,deny
deny from all
</Files>

Options -Indexes

You can access your .htaccess file via FTP or cpanel by migrating to the root of your site [where your wp-content,wp-admin, wp-includes folders are]. Make sure that you have chosen to show hidden files.

There are a number of plugins which are also helpful with security just a few include;

WordPress Firewall
Antivirus
WordPress File Monitor

And finally do not underestimate the importance of keeping your themes and WordPress install up-to-date. Sometimes updating will ‘break’ something or require you to deactivate a plugin that has not been kept up-to-date, but these are small annoyances compared with the hassle, heartbreak and expense of a hacked site.

Keeping Your WordPress Site Secure

Limited Time Only! Get the StudioPress Pro Plus Package before the Price Increase.

The StudioPress Pro Plus All-Theme Package has been available for the ridiculously low price of 249.95. This price includes current AND future themes.

However after MAY 11th that deal ends. Don’t get left out! Take advantage of this final opportunity to own all current and future StudioPress themes including the powerful Genesis framework.

Also makes a great Mother’s Day gift!

Hurry time is running out!

StudioPress Pro Plus All-Theme Package

Last Chance To Get The StudioPress Pro Plus All-Theme Package For 249.95

How do I add space around my images or text?

Space is added via margins or padding.

Lets start with a square box,

You would want to adjust the padding – so padding refers to what is inside.

Let’s see the same box and text with 10px of padding added to the top and bottom, and 15px added to the sides.

so in your style.css you would have something like

#boxtest {
padding:10px 15px 10px 15px;<---this adds the space around the text
}

Margins

Perhaps the box is next to another box and you want to have a little space between them. In that case you would add a margin - margins set the space of elements from the outside edges.

Let’s add a top margin to the bottom box to give it some room, here are the same boxes after adding this to the bottom box style.

In your style.css you would have something like

#boxtest {
padding:10px 15px 10px 15px;<---Adds space around the inside text
margin:10px 0 0 0; <---Adds space to the top of the box itself
}

margins and padding work on a “clock” system

the first number is 12 or the top

the second number is 3 or the right

the third number is 6 or the bottom

the fourth number is 9 or the left

I hope this helps you to have a better understanding of padding and margins.

Beginners Guide to Padding and Margins

I have to confess I have never seen the draw to Starbucks. I had a coffee there once and while significantly more expensive was not in any way memorable. However many people are drawn to the brand and the logo is famous.

Starbucks wants to expand it’s range of products some of which will be coffee free so now that logo no longer includes the word Starbucks or the word coffee. Is this too brazen? After all what does a mermaid/siren on her own have to do with coffee let alone any other product – except perhaps fish? Is Starbucks a little too full of themselves in believing that their stylized maiden of the sea sans brand name will be enough to enslave even more devotees? I guess time will tell.

Starbucks Logo Change

Maybe you are looking for that hard to buy for teen, or the geek on your list? Here are some ideas.

Hosting

Why not buy hosting for someone? Let them set up their own blog. Fat Cat recommends HostGator and as a special gift to you Fat Cat Designs is offering you this coupon a discount of $9.94 off the package price. Just use the coupon code

HappyHolidays2U

Custom Professional Templates

Do you know someone who wants to start an online business or professional blog or could use an update? Why not give the gift of a StudioPress theme or package?

Beautiful, professionally designed themes to make any site stand out. Just make sure to include the recipients’ info so
they have access to the support forums.

Gadgets

What geek doesn’t love gadgets from the highest priced laptop to a new ipad to a desk distraction you can’t go wrong. Think Geek has gadgets for all age groups.

Anyone looking for anything for me can start here

Happy Holidays to all!

Looking For A Last Minute Gift?

Fat Cat Designs recommends Hostgator for their great service and equally great support and on Monday November 29th you can sign up with Hostgator at an amazing 50% OFF!

To receive prices as low as this

- Shared Hosting – ONLY $2.48/month
- Reseller Hosting – ONLY $12.48/month
- VPS Hosting – ONLY $9.98/month (first month)
- Dedicated Servers – ONLY $87/month (first month)

just sign up with Hostgator using the code CYBERMONDAY2010

This price is only in effect Monday November 29th from 12:00AM – 11:59PM CST (-6 GMT) so take advantage it while it lasts!

Great Hosting at an AMAZING Price!

I do not own the most expensive system ever but for just over a grand I would nevertheless not expect to have to reboot every time I engage my graphics card in any meaningful way.

It started with an inability to watch anything on YouTube. That problem was solved by switching off the graphics accelerator on Adobe Flash. Then it wouldn’t play an older direct x based game, fine uninstalled game. Now it just crashes on a whim.

My Nvidia Geforce GT 220 is a drunk driver on my internet highway, ready to crash at a moments notice and with no regard for others. Things are so bad I have almost considered going Mac. Though budget, an intense dislike of Jobs and distaste for fanboy kool-ade have prevented me going that far..though things could change!

Graphics Card Blues

Put an end to naked new tabs with this very useful new addon for Firefox called New Tab King. In the words of the developer

New Tab King is a browser add-on that’s available for you when launching a new browser tab. Instead of getting a blank page (or the Homepage in some cases), New Tab King provides you with your most visited sites as well as the sites you bookmarked on your own. Both these lists are ordered from most to least vested in the past 30 days. Each site is displayed with its description text and the website’s icon.

Screenshot

Download and further info here

New FireFox Addon: New Tab King