Artful Blog

Due to the increasing number of security vulnerabilities being discovered in outdated website software, and subsequently exploited by attackers, regular security & software updates are now an essential part of maintaining a secure website. 

As part of our hosting service, from July 1, 2026, websites hosted with Artful will be enrolled in a quarterly security update program unless alternative maintenance arrangements have been agreed in writing.

There will be 3 options available:

1. Priority Quarterly updates – set price of $240 charged annually in addition to hosting -find out more here.
2. Standard Quarterly updates – charged at our hourly rate for all time taken (minimum 30min charge will apply per quarter) - find out more here.
3. External updates – opting out of Artful performing quarterly updates (additional fees apply) - find out more here.

All hosted websites must have an active update strategy. Clients may choose Artful's Priority Plan, Standard Plan, or nominate a third-party provider responsible for updates.

It's estimated that 30,000 websites are hacked each day.

Why this happens:

- No security or inadequate on a website.
- Lack of frequent maintenance and software updates.
- No backup and restoration plans

Unfortunately even with the above boxes ticked no site is never 100% secure, but having a robust maintenance and support system in place hugely reduces the risks to your website. Not to mention the improved overall performance of websites that are frequently updated and maintained in a timely manner. 

• Priority access as an existing domain holder ends 19 September 2022. 
• Application fee of $35 includes 1 year registration. (if successful) 
• Just email us to confirm and we can grab your eligible .au Direct domains for you.

Whats All This About?

Australia has introduced a new shorter domain, .au direct. eg. artful.au instead of artful.com.au.  Existing .com.au and .net.au domain owners get first priority to register their domain in the new .au direct format. After the 19th of September all domains are open to the public (and resellers!) to register any available .au direct domain.

When we meet with clients for the first time and mention that we develop our sites using Joomla, most ask us; What is Joomla?
Joomla has always been an open source content management product which means there are thousands of free templates and extensions available which allow you to customise your website design easily and often without the need to hard code. There is also a fantastic community of developers and users out there (even right here in Melbourne!) always ready and willing to provide support and answer any questions or queries you may have.

We're based in Donvale, east of Melbourne. The whole team are Melbourne locals (or were*) We have a team of very experienced, local Joomla web designers, developers and programmers with a minimum! 8 years Joomla experience each. We are also a hosting company that host Joomla Websites too.  Stay local and host your Joomla Website in Australia!   Call us, meet us and get help with your Joomla website or development right here in Melbourne.

If you have email hosted with Artful below is the configuration settings you will need to set it up on your devices.

Before you begin you will need to your full email address to login and current email password at hand. 

Where are you ranking on your preferred search phrase in Google?
If you find yourself on page 3 or beyond you can consider your website dead!
These days no-one looks beyond page 3, but don't fret, all is not lost. Here are some simple tips to help your Google Search ranking.

Recently Artful have made changes to our processes to ensure your websites are kept up to date and secure. We endeavour to maintain the security of your site by updating all integral CMS (Joomla/Wordpress etc) core extensions at no extra charge to you, as part of your hosting agreement.  Core extensions are those that we have used on your site, usually for backup and security functionality, that are created and maintained by trusted third party developers.