The map on your website may be broken!

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Hello everyone,

I just wanted to give you all an update on the changes that have occurred with Google Maps recently.

As my previous email sent on the 6th of September indicated, Google has changed the rules regarding how Google Maps work on websites. The short summary is that it’s no longer a free service.

Prior to July 2018 it was free to use Google Maps on a website, with unlimited map loads or ‘calls’. Google has now put a limit on its free account allowing for up to 2,500 API calls a day, after which it makes you pay. An API ‘call’ is when your someone loads a page with a google map on it or uses that Google Map to try and find a location.

If your website has a Google Map on a page you may find that it no longer works. Don’t worry, the website isn’t broken, it’s just Google restricting your website’s use of it’s Google Maps service.

To fix this issue we will need to get you signed up with your own Google Map account and API. You will need a Google account to do this. If you have a Google account (Gmail) you can send us the username and password and we can set you up.

If your website uses less then 2,500 API calls a day it will be fine. If after this the map still doesn’t work it means you’ve gone over your cap that and you will need to add your credit card information into the Google API account so that they can bill you for the extra usage. You can learn more about the new pricing for Google Maps here https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/pricing/sheet/.

If you have any questions about what’s going on or need help fixing your map give us a call on 03 5234 5360 or by email us at support@chocchip.com.au.

Kind regards,

Christopher

 

2019 Internship

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Major Drupal security vulnerability discovered. Your site may be in danger!

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Hi everyone,

I just wanted to give you all a heads up on some disturbing news that may effect your website if you are on the Drupal platform.

The website platform ‘Drupal’ has been all over the news of late (see linked articles below), with information surfacing about a major vulnerability in the platform, resulting in 100,000’s of Drupal websites being hacked around the world. This major vulnerability has been coined ‘Drupalgeddon2‘, and has been assigned the official identifier CVE-2018-7600.

Choc Chip Digital were made aware of this exploit when our website hosting scans started picking up infected Drupal website’s on our yesterday, Wednesday 19.0418.

What does this mean if you have a website built in Drupal? We have been getting in touch with the clients we are aware of whose site’s have been affected by the hack, but if you have a Druapl site and haven’t heard from us your site may not be safe. Given the severity of the exploit our assumption is that it’s only a matter of time (days even), before Drupal site’s running on software lower then version 8 (which is most) will be hacked.

The consequences of Drupal the site being hacked by this exploit are varied, most site’s are going offline as consequence of the hack, as well as being infected with malicious code. Some sites are having their private data stolen, others are having inappropriate marketing material and sexualised content posted.

To prevent this from happening we would recommend signing up for a 12 month support agreement, or paying for a once off patch, as well as starting the discussion around getting you off Drupal and onto another website platform like WordPress.

Please get in contact with us if you suspect your website is compromised by calling (03) 5273 0100, or by emailing support@chocchip.com.au.

Kind regards,

Christopher
Director

References

Be mindful, at least twice a week!

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Every Tues & Thursday afternoon the Choc Chip team pulls out the bean bags and set’s aside 15 min for mindfulness. Our background music of choice? Christopher Lloyd Clarke without exception!

To check out some of Christopher amazing tunes head over to www.enlightenedaudio.com.

We’re moving!

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We’re a little bit excited because we’re moving to a new inner-city location in Bayley Street. Swanky, we know!

Why the move you say? Well, we are excited to get into the heart of the city where all the action is, but there is another reason too, some exciting news that we haven’t been able to share until now. We’ve joined the Pace Group of Companies, so now you also have the services and knowledge of Australia’s longest established advertising and marketing company at your disposal too!

We are still the same team you know and love, with the same quality. We look and act the same, we now just have some extra fire power we can leverage to make your digital projects even more successful (we also now have better coffee!!! That’s a massive win, we know.)

We invite you to come on over for a tour and check out our new digs & coffee!

Our new address is:

5 Bayley Street Geelong Vic 3220

Phone numbers and email addresses won’t change. Neither will the great service you’ve come to expect from Choc Chip.

2018 Digital Success Check List and Hot Tips

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