Blackrock Networks, Inc.

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  • Google Partner Videos

    Google Partner Videos

    For all those not able to attend our event in person we have provided videos of the event below. I have chosen to order the three part event in order of what I believe to be the most useful instead of the order of presentation.

    The first and I think one of the most useful parts of our partner program presentation is with Fred Vallaeys as he discussed AdWords and other tools used in online advertising, especially focused on some ways business can handle online advertising themselves. This is also a great video for those who just want to get some insight as to what other online options are out there, Yelp, Facebook, and more.

    The second video is a Q&A answered by Arjan, author of The Small Think Big Book, he shares insights, stories, and actionable items to help your business in todays digital marketplace.

    The third part/video discusses some of the benefits of working with a Google Partner and some questions you should ask. Ben Wood addresses three main questions for example:

    1) Why choose a Google Partner/Ad Agency for your marketing program?
    “Market Knowledge and online marketing is complicated…and it gets more complicated everyday, an agency focuses their time and energy on understanding the digital marketplace”

  • Google Partners Event – Live

    Google Partners Event – Live

    Blackrock Networks, Inc. is proud to host a live event with Google’s Partner Program.

    The live feed is now closed. Thank you for all those that attended and made the event a great success.

  • WordPress Editor Issue with upgrading to 3.9+

    Many of our clients take advantage of a key feature we added to their WordPress editor, that is, Custom Styles, and additional buttons such as Sub and Sup Script. If you have upgraded you may have noticed that these custom style drop down menus and icons are no longer available.

    What we can tell is that the most recent version upgrade of WordPress included an update to the visual editor, that is the TinyMCE system that WordPress incorporates in their software, to a version 4. In this version some of the advanced functionality and customization that was previously allowed no longer is there.

    We are investigating this issue to see if there is a way to work around this but at the time their is no additional documentation to debug this issue, there are however thousands of forum posts of frustrated developers like us here at Blackrock Networks, Inc.

    This is an example of what used to work and no longer does.

    // BRN ADD A CUSTOM STYLE SHEET TO VISUAL EDITOR
    add_filter( ‘tiny_mce_before_init’, ‘my_custom_tinymce’ );

    function my_custom_tinymce( $init ) {
    $init[‘theme_advanced_buttons2_add_before’] = ‘styleselect’;
    $init[‘theme_advanced_styles’] = ‘blue’;
    return $init;
    }

    // display custom visual editor

    function themename_add_editor_styles() {
    add_editor_style( ‘custom-editor-style.css’ );
    }
    add_action( ‘init’, ‘themename_add_editor_styles’ );

     

  • Yahoo / AOL changes Sending Policy

    Not surprisingly companies are always trying to find ways to protect their users from Spam and Phishing schemes, however, Yahoo and AOL made a change this week than can effect a lot of email marketing and notification services.

    They have changed their DMARC policy which means that emails sent from a third party system using a Yahoo or AOL “from” email will no longer be delivered to the intended recipient. This poses a problem for a lot of business, including our email marketing clients.

    Right now most clients do use a proper branded email like we recommend and we add an additional SPF record to a clients domain to make delivery rates higher (others don’t do that) but there are some that still use Yahoo or AOL email. In this case you will need to change this to a branded email.

    It’s only a matter of time before other ISPs, such as Gmail and Hotmail, make similar changes. So switching from one Free email provider is as they say “out of the fryer pan and into the fire”. We can’t say that we won’t make this change at some point with our email system, we too must battle spam for our clients but it is a fine line between getting emails delivered and SPAM diverted.

    If you need help registering a new domain or setting up email addresses contact us at support@blackrocknetworks.com.

    For more information about these changes from Yahoo and AOL use the links below

    https://help.yahoo.com/kb/mail/SLN24016.html?impressions=true

    http://blog.aol.com/2014/04/22/aol-mail-takes-action-against-email-spoofing/

  • Security threats abound this week, OpenSSL

    From Microsoft ending support for XP and OpenSSL having a major code fault the web has been a buzz about security. The problem with OpenSSL vulnerability (called Heatbleed by Google) is that the issue has been there for 2 years but researchers on the right side of the law have just found it. The wrong side could have been exploiting this vulnerability for over two years now.

    The problem is, it is not a simple software update that can be sent out and installed on mass. This is much more complex. Each SSL certificate has its own encryption key making it more secure as data passes over it.  In order to fix this the SSL certificate must be revoked, reissued and re-installed. All of which can’t happen in an instance. In the meantime people have no way of knowing whether their service provider has completed the process. From what we know as of this posting major websites such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo and Amazon have said they’ve taken steps to secure their sites.

    “A major online security vulnerability dubbed “Heartbleed” could put your personal information at risk, including passwords, credit card information and e-mails.”

    “Smaller online stores and services use OpenSSL, and those sites might take longer to make the necessary fixes. Websites don’t typically publicize whether they’re using OpenSSL, so the process will also be bumpy for consumers.” -CNN

    For more go to:
    http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/08/tech/web/heartbleed-openssl/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

    Mashable has put together a great video explanation as well as a running list of companies that have made the updates required to address Heartbleed. Until a company has made the update, changing your password can mean the new password could be compromised. Read the list to see if it is time for you to update your password at your vendor sites.

    http://mashable.com/2014/04/09/heartbleed-bug-websites-affected/


    Google has also put up a webpage of FAQ at http://heartbleed.com/

     Be sure to Like us at  www.facebook.com/blackrocknetworks for system updates.

    Or +1 us on Google at www.google.com/+Blackrocknetworks

  • The clock is ticking for Windows XP

    Yes, yes I know. Another post reminding users to take their Windows XP machines off line and either upgrade or get a new computer. Remember some computers running Windows XP may be to old to just handle the upgrade and you will need a beefier computer. On that note Microsoft is introducing a promotion of $100 towards an upgrade of their computer.Go to http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/24/technology/windows-xp-upgrade/index.html?iid=HP_LN for the discount and check out http://money.cnn.com/2014/04/04/technology/windows-8-start-menu/index.html for more.

    For those concerned about adjusting to the new look and feel of Windows 8 all is not lost. Instead two things have come to pass to help ease the transition. An announcement about the latest update to Windows 8, (Windows 8.1) that brings back the Start menu. That doesn’t mean MS is reverting, or folding under pressure but just making Windows 8 more palatable. Check out http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/24/technology/windows-xp-upgrade/index.html?iid=HP_LN for the discount and check out http://money.cnn.com/2014/04/04/technology/windows-8-start-menu/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 for more on how Windows 8.1 will look.

     

  • Blackrock Networks, Inc. and Constant Contact end old browser support

    LOTS TO KNOW THIS WEEK

    END OF LIFE for Windows XP: On April 8, 2014, support and updates from Microsoft for Windows XP will no longer be available. Don’t let your PC go unprotected.

    Time to upgrade your browser.
    On March 31st Constant Contact and Blackrock Networks, Inc. will stop supporting some older browser versions.

    Get the latest versions below.

    What Does “Support” Mean

    Support means that we will no longer fix issues that are specific to the older browsers. You older browser will still work, but you may experience issues.

    Like at  www.facebook.com/blackrocknetworks for system updates.

    Or +1 us on Google at www.google.com/+Blackrocknetworks for our great video tutorials and updates.

  • Should all my domains link to each other?

    Again Matt Cutts of Google answers extremely well a common questions I get from clients.

    If I have 20 domains, should I link them all together?

  • How To Add Video In WordPress Posts: Embedding Video

    How To Add Video In WordPress Posts: Embedding Video

    How To Add Video In WordPress Posts: Embedding Video

  • WordPress Posts & Pages Tutorial – How To Work with WP Pages & Posts

    WordPress Posts & Pages Tutorial – How To Work with WP Pages & Posts

    WordPress Posts & Pages Tutorial – How To Work with WP Pages & Posts

  • Why doesn’t my email arrive with an attachment?

    As a user recently reported an email I sent with an attachment never arrived. Not even in the Spam box. So what happened? Well my first thought is my email was blocked, but no.

    Emails without this particular attachment arrived fine. Next thought, the attachment is being flagged and the ISP is trashing it before it gets to the user. Not uncommon and most often seen with Comcast or Verizon. They love to decide if it is Spam before you can 🙂

    A user posted to a forum with this concern “I get a message that the mail was sent successfully but it never arrives at its destination. I have checked junk/spam mail folders, and it is not there. I also tried disabling outgoing message scanning, but it makes no difference. No attachments can be sent, regardless of file type, size, or number of attachments per e-mail.”

    So what to do?

    Try sending the file as a zip file attachment. (This has nothing to do with file size but all to do with spam filter scanning). This prevents a lot of Spam filters from scanning the document. Click here to find out how to compress a zip file.

    Final Note: Always follow up an email with an attachment with another email, text based. My bad I forgot this best practice, and my client thought I was ignoring them because they never got my email.

    Happy Sending.

  • What Browser version am I using?

    In any bug reporting a key item to replicating the issue is to know some key details.

    In Chrome follow these instructions.

    1) Click Setting in the upper right corner.

    2) Click About Google Chrome

    Chrome1 Capture2

    3) See what version and send these details to your tech support along with the Operating System you are using and what you did that resulted in the error.

    Some other useful links from Google.

    For Internet Explorer

    1) Go to Help > About Internet Explorer

    ie1

    2) See what version and send these details to your tech support along with the Operating System you are using and what you did that resulted in the error.

    ie2

    For Firefox

    1) Go to Help > About Firefox

    ff1

    2) See what version and send these details to your tech support along with the Operating System you are using and what you did that resulted in the error.

    ff2

    Don’t forget some other details that might be helpful to send to your support person.

    • What is the URL you used to visit the site?
    • What actions did you take that resulted in the “error”?
    • Send a screen shot of the steps you took.

    https://blog.blackrocknetworks.com/sending-a-screen-shot-from-a-mac/

    https://blog.blackrocknetworks.com/sending-a-screen-shot-from-a-pc/

  • Microsoft Outlook 2010: Adding a Text Entry to AutoCorrect

    Most people use short hand to abbreviate common words like info = information and pic for picture, but is this really good email etiquette. Well there is a little known trick to using the auto-correct feature in Outlook to fix these abbreviations for you. Follow the steps below to make your life a bit easier and your email a bit more professional.

    step1 step2 step3Untitled-4

  • Microsoft will end support for Windows XP April 8, 2014

    Just a reminder that come April 8, 2014 Microsoft will no longer provide support and security updates for Windows XP so you will need to upgrade to Windows 7 or 8 prior to this to prevent security risks. Don’t let your PC go unprotected.

    END OF LIFE INFO for XP: On April 8, 2014, support and updates from Microsoft for Windows XP will no longer be available.

    For additional IT and Computer upgrade support contact John Marczak

  • Serious Security: Google finds fake but trusted SSL certificates in France

    http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com/2013/12/further-improving-digital-certificate.html

    by Paul Ducklin on December 9, 2013
    “Google announced over the weekend that it recently came across a bunch of fake SSL certificates for some of its own domains.” Read more at:

    http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/12/09/serious-security-google-finds-fake-but-trusted-ssl-certificates-for-its-domains-made-in-france/