Security Archives - Marlow FIVE-0

WordPress Website Rebuild for Dermatology Clinic

Posted on December 9, 2023January 11, 2024

A rebuilt website for Advanced Dermatology and Laser Institute of Seattle.

Dr. Greene’s dermatology clinic contracted with me to regain full administrative access to their WordPress site, which a marcom agency would not provide. After content was successfully migrated, I cloned the site into a new open source Theme, _S. Usability was improved by increasing font sizes and color contrast.

Scope of Work

Accessibility
Performance Optimization
Search Engine Optimization
Security Hardening
Visual Layout & Design
WordPress Theme Development

Performance

To optimize performance, overall page size, at 802 Kb, is 67% below the median industry homepage size of ~2.4 Mb, and server requests have been reduced 42%, from 69 to 40. Accessibility benchmarks are also excellent, with a 38% improvement in Google Lighthouse’s automated accessibility metrics.

Before & After Performance Comparison

Performance Metric	Old Website	New Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility	60/100	96/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices	95/100	100/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed	72/100	73/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed	91/100	91/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization	82/100	91/100
WebPageTest Speed Index	1.805	2.251
Total Homepage File Size	1.047 Mb (230 Kb Images + 421 Kb Scripts + 117 Kb CSS + 271 Kb Fonts + 32 Kb HTML)	802 Kb (416 Kb Images + 193 Kb Scripts + 87 Kb CSS + 106 Kb Fonts + 106 Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests	69 (15 Images + 16 Scripts + 28 CSS + 7 Fonts + 1 Other + 2 HTML)	40 (14 Images + 13 Scripts + 8 CSS + 3 Fonts + 1 Other + 1 HTML)
Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time	~11.4 seconds	~3.4 seconds

WebPageTest Speed Index: median = ~3.591; top 10% = <1.388
In 2022, the average page size = ~2.4 Mb and median page size = ~2.1 Mb.
Database-driven websites, like WordPress, are more performance optimized when server requests are < 40 – 60.

Thank you so much. We are extremely happy.
Peggy Mesnik

Site Credits

WordPress Design + Development: Scott Marlow

Scholarships to Support Spokane Student Education

Posted on September 18, 2023November 21, 2023

A new WordPress-powered website for Spokane Area Retired Educator’s Association (SAREA), a member organization of Washington State School Retirees Association.

This Spokane nonprofit association lost access to their domain registrar and host, after a key stakeholder passed away. After a new domain name was secured, site content was manually migrated into a WordPress CMS for more intuitive content editing. The new site incorporates an online application for scholarships and mini-grants awarded each fall.

Scope of Work

Content Migration
Performance Optimization
Search Engine Optimization
Security Hardening
Visual Layout & Design
WordPress Theme Development
WordPress Training & Consulting

Performance

Page load speed is excellent with overall page size, 273 Kb, 88% below the median homepage size. Accessibility benchmarks are also superb.

Performance Metric	New WordPress Website
Google Lighthouse: Accessibility	100/100
Google Lighthouse: Best Practices	100/100
Google Lighthouse: Mobile Speed	70/100
Google Lighthouse: Desktop Speed	91/100
Google Lighthouse: Search Engine Optimization	93/100
WebPageTest Speed Index	1.795
Total Homepage File Size	273 Kb (218 Kb Images + 9 Kb Scripts + 45Kb CSS + 8Kb HTML)
Total Web Server Requests	18 (5 Images + 4 Scripts + 8 CSS + 1 HTML)
Estimated Mobile Homepage Load Time	~1.8 seconds

Site Credits

WordPress Design + Development: Scott Marlow

5 Hallmarks of a Good Backup System

Posted on February 18, 2019April 8, 2019

I believe that there are two types of people in this world. Those who have lost data and those who will lose data. Consequently, it’s imperative to backup all of your data files on your computer if you run a business from your computer.

A backup system is analogous to an insurance policy. We hope we never need to rely on it, but we’re very glad that we have it, if it is needed. And just as different insurance policies provide different amounts of coverage, not all backup systems provide the same level of protection. Here is a list of the 5 essential characteristics of a good backup system.

All files on your computer are backed up
Your backup system should backup all files on your computer. This includes the operating system, all applications and all of your data, such as your word processing files, PDFs, spreadsheets, photos, music, etc.
Backups occur frequently and automatically
Your backup system should run automatically every day, or even more frequently. Many cloud-based backup systems check every 15 minutes for recently edited or created files and back them up
Multiple backup copies are created
A rule of thumb is that if it’s important enough to backup once then it’s important enough to backup twice. Your backup system should produce multiple backup copies of your files. The multiple copies should be kept on multiple disks which are securely stored in both on-site and off-site locations.
The backup system is monitored
You need to monitor your backup system to know that it is running. The status of backup systems can be monitored by clicking one icon on your Mac or PC to see the date and time of the most recent backup. Some backup systems can email a daily report indicating success or failure. These reports might list the number of files or the amount of data backed up.
The backup system is tested periodically
You need to test your backup system a few times each year to ensure that it’s working properly. Through testing you’ll learn how to recover files from your backup system. Testing will build comfort and confidence. Then, when a true emergency arises, it’ll be easier to remain calm and restore the needed files.