Attackers have infected 20,000 WordPress sites by brute-forcing administrator usernames and passwords.

Sometimes criticism crushes me. A one-star review wrecks my day. An online barb served up via Twitter knocks me off course. A comment via email throws me for a loop. Why do I get stuck so easily by random strangers and their words? Because I’ve confused my art with my identity. That is a mistake. Your art is not your identity. It’s not who you are, it’s a byproduct of knowing who you are. The difference is subtle but critical.

Every time you see Metallica, they get up on stage and play Master of Puppets. They don’t skip that song. You know why? Because no matter what, no matter how old the song is, no matter how many times they’ve played that track, people always want to hear Master of Puppets. There’s this fucking idea that if you want to make content you have to always make something new, every day. Like, it’s not good content if it’s not fresh. Your hits don’t matter, you’re only as good as the next post that goes viral. You’re only as good as the next click frenzy.

WordPress is releasing a new version allowing users to easily use it as a full-featured CMS out of the box, not just as a blogging platform.

It is so exciting when you start a new creative project. You can’t wait to get going on it. But after you begin the work some of the initial enthusiasm starts to wear off off.

With so many people in the world, the odds of you coming up with an idea, name, topic or concept that nobody else has touched on before are pretty slim.

The ban includes explicit sexual content and nudity with some exceptions.

We are nearing the release date for WordPress 5.0 and Gutenberg, one of the most important and exciting projects I’ve worked on in my 15 years with this community. I knew we would be taking a big leap. But it’s a leap we need to take, and I think the end result is going to open up many new opportunities for everyone in the ecosystem, and for those being introduced to WordPress for the first time. It brings us closer to our mission of democratizing publishing for everyone.

Melbourne Australia, 2018 GaryVee Keynote

Yes, it’s ethically complicated.

A guide to finding the right day job, protecting your time, and building creative habits by Jeffrey Silverstein. Illustrated by Sunny Eckerle.

If you don’t know these 3 things, you may as well be rolling your face your keyboard.

Building anything or getting anywhere isn’t always going to be easy. Keep moving. Stay positive.

The Written World

Community content promotion, the term we coined back in 2016, is becoming harder. Here's why, and how we'll approach content promotion in the future.

A recent study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology examined people’s willingness to invest in their goals. The researchers found that people are happy to spend time and money on things when they are seen as directly impacting their end-goals, but less so when it comes to the indirect means of achieving those goals. The reason relates to the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.

The sum total of a great creative feat is quantifiable, but the immense effort it requires is done invisibly behind the scenes, sometimes for decades.

Get now the Best apps to get followers on Instagram, including ShareSupplier, Flaming Social Media, TagScout and 70 other top solutions suggested and ranked by the Softonic Solutions user community in 2018.

In our frenetic age, audio narratives offer a rare opportunity for slow immersion. But this intimacy can become manipulative.

And why most of the things you think matter actually don’t

The 5 rules that will help you succeed on the platform: It’s important to understand that astigrams are constantly being renewed, and most importantly, stay updated! I will try to clarify what is most important from my point of view As you know, Instagram is currently the most hot platform in the market, and it is very important to know how to use it

Growing up, my dad bought me many books each month as a treat. One of those was a small book of office cartoons called ‘Dilbert.’ I don’t have the book any longer, but it stuck in my head. It’s simplicity and beautiful design was a work of art. Years later, through listening to a podcast, I got to know who the author was — a man named Scott Adams. He’s no ordinary guy and his recipe for success and for life have some really valuable insights. He doesn’t pretend to know it all, but he thrives on planting new ideas in peoples heads and questioning everything we’ve ever believed.

Influencers are so 2014. And microinfluencers are so last week. Now advertisers see value in people with as few as 1,000 followers: the nanoinfluencers.

When your introduction only explains information, you don't show your reader that you have something to offer that they won't find anywhere else.

Christopher Blair runs a parody website designed to fool conservative Americans with fake news stories

Five essential tips to consider when writing online — from the importance of hyperlinks to optimising content for search engines.

How to write powerful Facebook posts to boost clicks and shares: tricks, words, content types, techniques, and emotions behind Facebook writing this year.

How to Accept and Appreciate Our Imperfect Art

Why Everyone Should Do It

You want to know how to succeed at anything? — It’s simple. Start, keep going and don’t stop until you succeed. That is how to succeed at anything. Three steps. A beginning, a middle and an end. We don’t like to think about an ‘end.’ It seems too practical and measurable and perhaps even shallow. Thinking of ‘success’ as a ‘destination’ tends to conjure images of horrendous personal cost and regret at the lost family time — a life of failing to stop and smell roses.

In 2016, McKinsey analyzed over 800 professions in the US and discovered machines could automate 45 percent of the activities, while 60 percent could see 30 percent or more of their jobs automated. Such a grim forecast doesn’t add a positive light on the role AI will play in the future, even for writers.

Content creators are motivated by passion but when the issue of making money gets involved, it leads to their inevitable burnout.

If you think about publishing an article, starting a blog or even just sharing a short rant on Medium, please consider what you’ll be putting your readers through.

Discover simple ways to make your writing a whole lot better ... whether you're writing a sales page, an email, a blog post, or a social media update.