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You can’t have escaped the news that WordPress installs have been the target of a brute force attack by hackers, and that experts are predicting worse is still to come.

So I’m pleased to introduce our latest Clockwork Plugin, 2 Factor SMS Authentication for WordPress.

Internally we’ve often discussed the discord between the security of wordpress (a simple username and password) and how many businesses and people’s livelihoods are reliant on the platform, it doesn’t seem right.

The way our 2 factor SMS plugin works is by creating an additional layer of security, the ‘something you have’ to go with the ‘something you know’.

How it Works

Obviously download and activate the plugin first, then;

1. On your WordPress login screen input username and password,
2. At this point a unique code is sent to your mobile phone via SMS,
3. Enter that code into the on-screen form and you’re in.

There’s no need to download or open a phone app, you don’t need the latest smartphone, just a bog standard phone that can receive an SMS. Which I’m led to believe is bang on trend.

The following screen shots show the process perfectly:

The plugin has options that allow you to configure which user profiles should use SMS 2 factor authentication. You can also configure what the plugin does if you run out of credit i.e. lock you out until you top up, or the less secure option of disabling two factor authentication.

Existing Clockwork/ WordPress Users

For those of you already using a Clockwork/Wordpress plugin it’s a simple case of downloading and activating the 2 Factor Auth plugin as you would any WordPress plugin. We don’t charge for the installation itself just the SMS Authentication Codes, and it uses the API key already stored in your Clockwork settings page.

New Clockwork/ WordPress Users

As well as downloading the plugin you’ll need to signup to Clockwork and grab yourself an API key for the settings page. Signup is free and you’ll get a couple of credits to test with.

Next week some of our servers are moving to a posh new data centre just outside Leeds.

To make sure our services are always available we split our servers across two sites, one in Manchester and another in Derby. Over the last 6 months or so we’ve hit the limits of how much power the Manchester data centre can provide so we’re going to move these servers to a recently built high spec data centre just outside Leeds.
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We Wish You a Merry Christmas, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, We Wish You a Merry….

We would really like you to enjoy the holidays.

Whilst there’s all that Christmas thing going on, Clockwork and Clive (our robot) will be working as hard as ever, getting text messages out to the people you need to keep in touch with.

If you’ve got a query over the holidays just email hello@clockworksms.com as we’re keeping an eye out to make sure things are going OK for you.

Cover:

9.30 – 5pm (Monday to Friday, excluding Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day)

We’ve just released another brand new Clockwork plugin: Clockwork SMS for Booking Calendar.

This plugin lets you to send SMS booking confirmations and appointment reminder texts to your customers when they book online, it can also send text notifications to your site administrator(s) when a new booking is made.

Here’s a look at the options screen, it gives a good feel for how the plugin works.

This is a great way to make sure customers don’t forget their bookings and turn up on time – whether you’re running a hairdressers, restaurant, or hotel – using Booking Calendar.

The plugin is free to install and is available on wordpress.org or by searching ‘Clockwork Booking Calendar’ through your WordPress admin panel.

Messages cost the usual 5p via your Clockwork SMS API account.

We’ve just released the first of our all-new SMS plugins: Clockwork for Formidable and Formidable Pro.

This allows you to send SMS notifications to your site administrator(s) when your Formidable forms are submitted.

You can send text messages to multiple mobile numbers, and also send to separate numbers for each of your forms.

The plugin is free to install and is available on wordpress.org or by searching ‘Clockwork Formidable’ through your WordPress admin panel. Messages cost the usual 5p via your Clockwork SMS API account.

We’ve updated just released an update to our Shopify plugin to provide full support for Clockwork. If you use Shopify to power your online store, this a great plugin that lets you text updates to your ecommerce customers.

The plugin sends texts to yourself (the store owner) when purchases are made and to customers as their order status changes, placed on hold, shipped etc.

You can do all this through our Shopify screen at shopify.clockworksms.com - just enter your store’s domain and you’re ready to go.

The plugin is free to install for Shopify users, you just pay for messages as normal through Clockwork.

Just a short blog to say we’ve released an update to our Clockwork SMS Notifications for WP e-Commerce (aka GetShopped) plugin.

The updated plugin now provides the same functionality as our WooCommerce SMS plugin, including SMS notifications and order updates to both store owners and customers. This update also introduces the brand new WordPress Clockwork architecture into the plugin.

You can get the updated plugin from wordpress.org.

We’ve just updated our three Contact Form plugins for WordPress:

• Gravity Forms
• Contact Form 7
• Fast Secure Contact Form

They all use the new Clockwork WordPress architecture, so if you use a combination of these or other Clockwork WordPress plugins then you’ll only need one Clockwork API key.

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The first of our Clockwork plugins is live: Clockwork SMS Notifications for WooCommerce.

This contains some great improvements if you’re using WooCommerce as your shopping cart. We’ve updated it to use the new Clockwork for WordPress architecture, so all your settings are in one place, and we’ve also redesigned the SMS notifications on the orders screen.

You can get the plugin from WooThemes; it’s a premium plugin so costs $35. It’s a free upgrade if you’re already using an earlier version of the plugin.