Link to website: https://theevidencevault.com/

Objectives:

• Build and maintain a dedicated blog and podcast platform, with primary focus on content publishing rather than infrastructure experimentation
• Establish reliable analytics, discoverability, and email marketing integration for an ongoing media business
• Maintain a secure, stable production environment for a site with real, active traffic

Process:

• Evaluated multiple WordPress themes and page-building approaches over time, including a period using Gutenberg’s native block editor as an alternative to Elementor, before settling on the current setup
• Configured MailerLite for email marketing and subscriber management
• Integrated Google Site Kit, Google Analytics, and Google Search Console for traffic and search performance tracking
• Chose Cloudways as the hosting platform specifically for its managed layer — automated backups (UpdraftPlus), caching (Object Cache Pro, Breeze), and built-in WAF/OSSEC intrusion detection — appropriate for a live production site rather than a learning/testing environment
• Configured Limit Login Attempts Reloaded for brute-force protection on top of Cloudways’ platform-level security features
• Manage all user roles, plugin lifecycle, and backend administration directly

Debugging:

• Hit ownership and permissions conflicts while setting up Google Search Console, requiring troubleshooting of domain verification methods to properly link the property to the site
• Switching page-building approaches (Gutenberg blocks vs. Elementor) multiple times surfaced real layout and compatibility issues between themes and builders, requiring rework each time a different approach was tried
• Reviewing the site’s security dashboard, identified and directly blacklisted a malicious IP address; separately observed two additional IPs already handled automatically by Imunify’s RBL (Realtime Blackhole List) blocking — distinguishing between a manual response and an existing automated defense layer already working as intended

Outcome:

A stable, actively maintained media platform running since mid-2025, with integrated analytics, email marketing, and layered security (platform-level WAF/intrusion detection plus application-level brute-force protection). Check out the website here: https://theevidencevault.com/. Currently planning a DNS migration from Namecheap to Cloudflare to bring the domain in line with the security and performance configuration built for the newer portfolio site.

My Blog Articles:

I have written a half a dozen articles since starting the blog. I am always writing another articles on this blog website.