{"id":1505,"date":"2026-08-13T00:32:26","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T00:32:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/matthewvallejos.com\/?p=1505"},"modified":"2026-08-13T09:05:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-13T09:05:33","slug":"managing-and-securing-the-evidence-vault-a-live-wordpress-media-platform","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matthewvallejos.com\/?p=1505","title":{"rendered":"Managing and Securing The Evidence Vault: A Live WordPress Media Platform"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Link to website: <a href=\"https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/\">https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Objectives:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Build and maintain a dedicated blog and podcast platform, with primary focus on content publishing rather than infrastructure experimentation<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Establish reliable analytics, discoverability, and email marketing integration for an ongoing media business<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Maintain a secure, stable production environment for a site with real, active traffic<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Process:<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Evaluated multiple WordPress themes and page-building approaches over time, including a period using Gutenberg&#8217;s native block editor as an alternative to Elementor, before settling on the current setup<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Configured MailerLite for email marketing and subscriber management<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Integrated Google Site Kit, Google Analytics, and Google Search Console for traffic and search performance tracking<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Chose Cloudways as the hosting platform specifically for its managed layer \u2014 automated backups (UpdraftPlus), caching (Object Cache Pro, Breeze), and built-in WAF\/OSSEC intrusion detection \u2014 appropriate for a live production site rather than a learning\/testing environment<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Configured Limit Login Attempts Reloaded for brute-force protection on top of Cloudways&#8217; platform-level security features<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Manage all user roles, plugin lifecycle, and backend administration directly<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Debugging:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>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<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>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<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reviewing the site&#8217;s security dashboard, identified and directly blacklisted a malicious IP address; separately observed two additional IPs already handled automatically by Imunify&#8217;s RBL (Realtime Blackhole List) blocking \u2014 distinguishing between a manual response and an existing automated defense layer already working as intended<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Outcome:<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">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: <a href=\"https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/\">https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\">My Blog Articles:<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have written a half a dozen articles since starting the blog. I am always writing another articles on this blog website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-grid wp-container-core-group-is-layout-365a876e wp-block-group-is-layout-grid\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-the-evidence-vault wp-block-embed-the-evidence-vault\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"ojKTWzjlPJ\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/julius-caesar-famous-gallic-campaigns-part-2\/\">Julius Caesar&#8217;s Famous Gallic Campaigns Part 2<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cJulius Caesar\u2019s Famous Gallic Campaigns Part 2\u201d \u2014 The Evidence Vault\" src=\"https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/julius-caesar-famous-gallic-campaigns-part-2\/embed\/#?secret=Veu1gTXZdy#?secret=ojKTWzjlPJ\" data-secret=\"ojKTWzjlPJ\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-the-evidence-vault wp-block-embed-the-evidence-vault\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"vh7EY89fQK\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/julius-caesars-famous-gallic-campaigns-part-1\/\">Julius Caesar&#8217;s Famous Gallic Campaigns Part 1<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cJulius Caesar\u2019s Famous Gallic Campaigns Part 1\u201d \u2014 The Evidence Vault\" src=\"https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/julius-caesars-famous-gallic-campaigns-part-1\/embed\/#?secret=uNVZkneYIn#?secret=vh7EY89fQK\" data-secret=\"vh7EY89fQK\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-the-evidence-vault wp-block-embed-the-evidence-vault\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"AYP7je4slD\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/top-10-crazy-modern-engineering-marvels\/\">Top 10 Crazy Modern Engineering Marvels<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cTop 10 Crazy Modern Engineering Marvels\u201d \u2014 The Evidence Vault\" src=\"https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/top-10-crazy-modern-engineering-marvels\/embed\/#?secret=CfxxG6co2B#?secret=AYP7je4slD\" data-secret=\"AYP7je4slD\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-grid wp-container-core-group-is-layout-365a876e wp-block-group-is-layout-grid\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-the-evidence-vault wp-block-embed-the-evidence-vault\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"011FY3yzek\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/the-memorable-legacy-of-genghis-khan\/\">The Memorable Legacy of Genghis Khan<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cThe Memorable Legacy of Genghis Khan\u201d \u2014 The Evidence Vault\" src=\"https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/the-memorable-legacy-of-genghis-khan\/embed\/#?secret=z7p2K0sOPc#?secret=011FY3yzek\" data-secret=\"011FY3yzek\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-the-evidence-vault wp-block-embed-the-evidence-vault\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"nmmJqPG2RC\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/napoleonic-logistics\/\">Napoleonic Logistics: The Stunning Supply Line That Conquered Europe<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cNapoleonic Logistics: The Stunning Supply Line That Conquered Europe\u201d \u2014 The Evidence Vault\" src=\"https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/napoleonic-logistics\/embed\/#?secret=Kt9oYkMyF6#?secret=nmmJqPG2RC\" data-secret=\"nmmJqPG2RC\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-the-evidence-vault wp-block-embed-the-evidence-vault\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"ZFysmmZpOd\"><a href=\"https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/ancient-egyptians-more-intelligent\/\">Were The Ancient Egyptians More Intelligent Than We Thought?<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden;\" title=\"\u201cWere The Ancient Egyptians More Intelligent Than We Thought?\u201d \u2014 The Evidence Vault\" src=\"https:\/\/theevidencevault.com\/ancient-egyptians-more-intelligent\/embed\/#?secret=Q9Er3BaZlf#?secret=ZFysmmZpOd\" data-secret=\"ZFysmmZpOd\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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). <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1506,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cloud","category-websites"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":7}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewvallejos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewvallejos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewvallejos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewvallejos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewvallejos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1505"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/matthewvallejos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1550,"href":"https:\/\/matthewvallejos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1505\/revisions\/1550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewvallejos.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewvallejos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewvallejos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewvallejos.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}