Choc Chip multimedia’s website design blog. This area is for lighter, more reflective pieces that might be thoughtful but don’t fit into one of the more serious article categories.

The map on your website may be broken!

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

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

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!

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!

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

Office Closed Over Christmas Break

Thank you all to everyone for what has been another amazing year of digital success stories here at Choc Chip Digital. We’ve met new friends and continued to deepen relationships with old ones.
Through it all I’ve been continually reminded of how blessed we are to work with such amazing people, so on behalf of the Choc Chip team thank you!

Just quickly I wanted to share two things with you.

#1 Discount: First of all it’s not too late to get work done in 2017! In fact January 2018 is already getting pretty full! To help you get things wrapped up before Christmas we are offering a 15% discount off website design and development work. If you want to learn more you can check out the video on our site https://chocchip.com.au/blog/15-off-website-design-new-website-packages/
#2 Office Closed: Lastly our office will be closed from Saturday 23rd Dec 2017 to Sunday the 7th of Jan 2018, returning to work again on Monday the 8th of January 2018. If during this period you need immediate assistance you can email emergency@chocchip.com.au. This email account will be monitored during this period.

Well that’s it from me! Thank you again for being amazing and continuing to sow into us as we sow into you 🙂

God bless, merry Christmas and a happy new year!

The Choc Chip Digital Team

Now Offering Video Production!

 

Choc Chip Digital is now offering video production services!

We’ve been very busy these last 3 months working behind the scenes and now we are ready to reveal our brand new service offering, video production!

Watch the video to see some of our latest work.

To learn more about how video production can enhance your business be sure to get in contact with us here at Choc Chip Digital by calling our office on 1800 808 841 or by emailing video@chocchip.com.au

 

 

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