Rather than producing something constructive (like an actual post), I spent the afternoon engrossed in the bloggers’ equivalent of flicking through the Dulux sample book: hunting for a new WordPress theme.

I liked the idea of a more islandy look so settled on this one, give or take a few template tweaks. And the simple act of changing the site design has now given me a subject to write a post about. It’s WIN all round today.

Dr Dave of Spam Karma fame warns of a potential security risk:

If you are running WordPress as your blogging platform and if you have been trusting enough to leave User registration enabled for guests, DISABLE IT IMMEDIATELY (in wp-admin >> options: make sure “Anyone can register” is not checked).

Additionally, delete or disable ANY guest account already created by people you are not sure about.

Leaving it open and letting people sign-up for guest accounts on your WordPress blog could lead to incredibly nasty stuff happening if anybody so desired. And trust me I am not exaggerating this. So don’t wait a second to disable this option and please relay the message.

He has taken some flak for this (as it’s not, AFAIK, backed up by the official WordPress folk) and I’m not making a recommendation one way or the other (I already had that option off), but any readers who do allow users to register on their WordPress blog should have a read and make up their own minds.

Update: A new version of WordPress has been released which apparently resolves this security issue.

I’m experimenting with Opera Mini (link to follow via PC) on my mobile phone. It’s much better for browsing than the installed browser, with an improved display and proper handling of cookies. This means I’ve been able to update my CNPS stats on the move – having got four plates today after another slow week – and now I’m trying WordPress.

Alas, there seems to be a limit to the number of characte

It’s that time of year when the blog needs a bit of a spruce up. It’ll carry on changing a bit over the next few days, but first off I’ve switched to a fresher-looking two column theme. I hope it will make posts a bit easier on the eye.