Graduation Speech :: Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

As we sit here this evening, knowing not what lies ahead, but feeling satisfied that we have completed this challenge, we start to wonder. What have we gained from these last 13 years of school? How often have we asked ourselves: Why do we attend school? What do we expect to accomplish? And what do we gain? Questions, whose importance we may not fully understand today, but which have drastically molded our futures. Sure, this path hasn't been the easiest to follow, but we navigated through the complications and tribulations to the point we are at now, and I ask once again, what have we gained? Education has supplied us with a commonality, a basic foundation on which we may establish our ideas. These ideas are the essential elements that dominate our lives. Each is unique and special. But just like it is perplexing to communicate without understanding the other person, it is difficult to express ideas without an education. Today, let us give thanks to all those who have helped us along the way: our parents for their love and support, our teachers for their dedication and encouragement, and to our fellow classmates for their friendship and compassion. In this stage of life we are still discovering ourselves and the world around us. Our experiences are lacking and our world varies tremendously from our parents' and grandparents' generations. We are still struggling for meaning and purpose. As we continue to grow and develop, our understanding will blossom and our convictions will strengthen. Because of our technology, our generation can communicate world-wide. As we continue to strive for greater opportunities and a better life, we must resist being consumed by our own inventions and instead aspire to personally interact with the outside world. The Internet and other modes of communication can only provide a window, a seat in the theater of life. The world is a stage and we are the actors -- the performers that touch the lives of our children -- the innovators of this conventional realm. Technology can only perform the tasks we program into it; accomplishment requires a human being. Striving for knowledge and perfection is admirabl e, but have the courage to maintain your personal identity. Put your emphasis on the qualities that define our individual personalities and contribute to our diversity. So, what have we gained? These last 13 years of school have prepared us for the journey we are about to embark upon.

Hardness Tests And Charpy Impact Test

TITLE Hardness Tests And Charpy Impact Test OBJECTIVE 1. To compare the hardness of the carbon steel, mild steel and ASSAB steel using three different hardness tests, which are Vickers Hardness Test, Rockwell Hardness Test and Brinell Hardness Test. 2. To study the hardness of mild steel, carbon steel and ASSAB which is an important in engineering to design structures or components that related in mechanical properties 3. To determine the resistance of carbon steel and mild steel against sudden impact by Charpy Impact Test. INTRODUCTION Hardness is a measure of a material’s resistance to localized plastic deformation.It also is one of the important properties to be considered. Mechanical properties of metals are a vital of engineering to design the components which using predetermined materials such that unacceptable levels of deformation and failure will not occur. Hardness is a resistance of properties of material to permanent (plastic) deformation caused by steel ball or py ramid-shape diamond when it is pressed onto its surface. There will be three basic method of Hardness Test that will be carried out on carbon and metal: (a) Vickers Test (b) Rockwell Test (c) Brinell Test THEORY 1. Vickers TestVHN = Applied load / Surface area of depression = = 1. 854 P/ d2 (approximate) Where P = applied load (kgf) d = (d1+ d2) / 2 (mm) 2. Rockwell Test HRC = 100 – d /0. 002 HRB = 130 – d /0. 002 Where d = depth of the indentation 3. Brinell Test BHN = Applied force / curve area of indentation P / D/2 [D – (D? – d? )] = P / Dh WhereP = applied load (kgf) D = diameter of steel ball (mm) d = diameter of resulting indentation (mm) h = depth of indentation (mm) = ? [D – (D? – d? )] APPARATUS 1. Set of Vickers Hardness Test Machine . Set of Rockwell Hardness Test Machine 3. Set of Brinell Hardness Test Machine SPECIMENS Mild steel, carbon steel and ASSAB steel A) VICKERS HARDNESS TEST From this method square shape pyramid diamon d 136 ° was press to surface of metal using some load (5kgf until 120kgf) under certain time (15 sec) and lastly the load will release. Square shape corner on the metal surface will be used. To obtain the value of hardness, Vickers Hardness Number (VHN) is calculated as below: VHN=Mass of the loadSurface area of depression =2PSin136 °2d2 =1. 854Fd2approximately Where, P=applied forcekgf d=d1+d22B) ROCKWELL HARDENESS TEST This method has 2 main scales which are: a) Scale B, concavity is a steel ball (1. 58 mm? ) and load using is 100 kgf. b) Scale C, concavity is a cone diamond having corner 120 ° and load is 150 kgf. Rockwell hardness (HR) can be calculated as equation below: HRC=100-d0. 002 HRB=130-d0. 002 Where d=concavity C) BRINELL HARDNESS TEST From brinell hardness test, the harden steel ball has good diameter, D under the load and certain time will be use to get diameter concavity effect,d. BHN=LoadArea of concavity =PD2D2-d2 =P? Dh Where, P=loadkgf D=diameter of the st eel ballmm =diameter concavity effectmm H=internal concavity effectmm =12D-D2-d2 PROCEDURE a) Vickers Hardness Test 1. The specimen (Mild Steel) is put on the anvil of the Vickers hardness machine precisely. 2. The sample is focused until the lines on the surface of the sample can be observed clearly. 3. The focal lens of the microscope is turned to the indenter. 4. The indenter is then pressed into the sample. 5. The test force is maintained for a specific dwell time of about 15 seconds. 6. The indenter is removed when the dwell time is complete. 7. The square shape is appears on the surface of the sample. . The indenter is then turned back to the focal lens. 9. The size of the indent is determined by measuring the two diagonals of the square indent. 10. Step 1 to 9 is repeated for five times by using the same sample but at different part of the sample. 11. Step 1 to 10 is then repeated by using different sample, which is carbon steel. 12. All the readings taken are recorded in a t able. b) Rockwell Hardness Test 1. The sample of ASSAB steel is placed exactly on the anvil. 2. The anvil is wound slowly until the LED begins moving to ‘SET’ and the test is started automatically. 3.The indenter moves down into the position of the part surface of the sample. 4. The load is then applied on the sample for a specific dwell time of 15 seconds. 5. The readings taken are recorded from the indenter machine. 6. Step 1 to 5 is repeated for five times by using the same sample but at different part of the sample. 7. Step 1 to 6 is then repeated by using different sample of carbon steel. 8. All the readings taken are recorded in a table. c) Brinell Hardness Test 1. The sample of mild steel is placed accurately on the anvil. 2. The anvil is wound slowly until the edge of the indenter touches the surface of the specimen. . A handle on the right side of the testing machine is lifted slowly until the gauge shows 1000kgf. 4. The indenter is pressed on the sample by an accurately controlled force for about 15 seconds of dwell time. 5. The indenter is removed slowly after 15 seconds, leaving a round indent in the sample. 6. The diameter of the indent is taken by measuring two diagonals of the round indent by using a portable microscope. 7. Step 1 to 6 is repeated for two times for the same sample but at different portion of the sample. 8. Step 1 to 7 is repeated for another sample of carbon steel. RESULT VICKERS HARDNESS TESTMild Steel Mild Steel| Reading| Diameter,D1( µm)| Diameter,D2( µm)| Average( µm)| VHN| 1| 409. 0| 409. 8| 409. 4| 111| 2| 395. 2| 395. 2| 395. 2| 119| 3| 402. 5| 404. 2| 403. 35| 114| 4| 401. 1| 402. 3| 401. 7| 115| 5| 371. 7| 364. 3| 368. 0| 137| Average| 119. 2| Carbon Steel| Reading| Diameter,D1( µm)| Diameter,D2( µm)| Average( µm)| VHN| 1| 282. 4| 368. 1| 325. 25| 245| 2| 271. 2| 269. 0| 270. 10| 254| 3| 292. 6| 291. 0| 291. 80| 218| 4| 313. 5| 306. 2| 309. 85| 195| 5| 293. 4| 292. 6| 293. 00| 216| Average| 225. 6| ROCKWELL HARDENSS TEST Carbon Steel Reading| HRC| HV| 1| 24. 9| 265. 4| 2| 27. | 280. 4| 3| 27. 0| 279. 0| 4| 28. 3| 288. 4| 5| 28. 2| 287. 6| Average | 27. 12| 280. 16| ASSAB Steel Reading| HRC| HV| 1| 56. 9| 631. 0| 2| 57. 5| 643. 0| 3| 57. 4| 641. 0| Average | 57. 27| 638. 33| BRINELL HARDNESS TEST Mild Steel Reading| Diameter ,d(mm)| BHN| 1| 3. 5| 101| 2| 3. 6| 95| 3| 3. 5| 101| Average| 3. 53| 99| Carbon Steel Reading| Diameter ,d(mm)| BHN| 1| 2. 75| 165| 2| 2. 5| 200| 3| 2. 7| 271| Average| 2. 65| 212| DISCUSSION a) Vickers Hardness Test 1. From this experiment, we can conclude that the higher the Vickers Hardness Number (VHN) of a specimen, the harder the specimen is.We had being tested two specimen which is Carbon steel and Mild steel for Vickers hardness Test. Carbon steel has an average VHN of 225. 6 while the mild steel has an average VHN of 119. 2. This means that carbon steel is harder compared to mild steel. 2. The carbon steel is harder than mild steel because the re is a presence of carbon atoms within the atoms of the structure. When the external force is applied, the carbon atoms prevent the atoms in the structure into sliding over and slipping. b) Rockwell Hardness Test 1. From the Rockwell hardness test, we can conclude that the higher the HRC number of a specimen, the harder the specimen is. . ASSAB steel is a type of alloy steel and thus its composition is much different than that of carbon steel, causing it to possess higher hardness compared to carbon steel. 3. From the result obtained, ASSAB steel has an average HRC number of 57. 27 where as carbon steel has an average HRC number of 27. 12. This mean that AASAB steel is harder compared to the high quality carbon steel. c) Brinell Hardness Test 1. For two specimens which carbon steel and mild steel is being tested with brinell hardness test. The BHN values are obtained. The values are depends on the diameter of the indentation caused. 2.We can conclude that the higher the value of th e BHN, the harder the specimen is. 3. From the results, carbon steel has an average BHN of 212 while mild steel only as an average BHN of 99. This confirms that carbon steel is harder than mild steel. 4. Furthermore, the values of BHN obtained might be not accurate because of the limitation that caused human errors. It is difficult for the observer to note the exact diameter of the indentation through the microscope. CONCLUSION In conclusion, from the results we obtained, it is conclude that ASSAB steel is the hardest material, followed by carbon steel and then mild steel.The hardness of the steel is mainly affected by its composition and percentage of carbon. Carbon steel is absorbed energy is lower than the mild steel. Carbon steel is a brittle material compared to mild steel because of the higher percentage of carbon present in the steel. Thus, fractures almost immediately upon sudden impact. 2. Charpy impact test INTRODUCTION The Charpy Impact Test is the most commonly used test to determine material’s resistance to the impact or sudden fracture where a sharp stress raiser is present.Toughness is a measure of the ability of a material to absorb energy up of fracture. For dynamic (high strain rate) loading conditions and when a notch is present, notch toughness is assessed by using an impact test. Material that experiences very little or no plastic deformation upon fracture is termed brittle whereas material that experiences great deformation upon fracture is termed ductile. The fracture surfaces for brittle material, which has low-energy impact failure, are generally smooth, and in metals have a crystalline appearance.But for ductile material which has high energy fracture, has regions of shear where the fracture surface is inclined about 45o to the tensile stress, and they have in general a rougher, more highly appearance, called fibrous fracture. THEORY 45? 2 mm 45 mm 10 mm 30? Figure 1 45? 2 mm 45 mm 10 mm 30? Figure 1 In Charpy impact test, the specimen are arrange as shown in the above picture and every specimen is prepare will has a notch at the centre of the specimen and the hammer will clout at the region of the notch i. e. stress concentration point.The hammer is release from a specific high which the initial energy having by the hammer is 300J. The scale will show the energy absorbs by each specimen after the experiment and it is recorded. APPARATUS Charpy testing machine SPECIMENS Mild steel and carbon steel PROCEDURE 1. Mild steel and Carbon steel is used in this test. 2. The load was applied as an impact blow from a weighted pendulum hammer that was released from a cocked position at a fixed height. 3. The specimen was positioned at the base of the machine. 4.Upon release, a knife-edge mounted on the pendulum strikes and fractures the specimen at the notch, which acts as a point of stress concentration for this high velocity impact blow. 5. After the weighted pendulum hammer has swung to its original position, the specimen was removed from the vice and its fracture surface was observed. RESULT Specimen| Energy Absorbed / J| Mild Steel| 299| Carbon Steel| 30| DISCUSSION 1. In this experiment, we can see that the energy absorbed by mild steel (299J) is higher compared to the energy absorbed by carbon steel (30J).This shows that carbon steel is a more brittle material and mild steel is a more ductile material. 2. According to the result which energy absorbed by mild steel is higher and it is more ductile. In addition, carbon steel is a brittle due to presence of the carbon atoms in steel. The presence of these carbon atoms provide resistance for plastic deformation to occur by preventing atoms in the steel to slip and slide over each other. The high percentage of carbon atoms reduces the ability of the steel to absorb energy upon impact. 3.As we observe the experiment that we had done in lab, the carbon steel breaks almost immediately when subjected to sudden impact whereas the mild steel shows only deformation and did not fracture. 4. Besides the area where the carbon steel fractures is shinny and smooth which shows that it fractures without much deformation. 5. The diagram below shows fracture surface of the mild steel. 6. The diagram below indicates the fracture surface of the carbon steel. Based on the results, it is clear that the ductility of mild steel is higher than carbon steel.The presence of carbon in carbon steel has minimized its ability to absorb energy from the impact. CONCLUSION In conclusion, we can conclude that mild steel has a high level of ductility than carbon steel. Mild steel is tougher than carbon steel. REFERENCE 1. William F. Smith and Javad Hashemi â€Å"Foundation of Materials Science and Engineering† McGraw Hill, 2005 2. David D. Rethwish and William D. Callister â€Å"Fundamentals of Material Science and Engineering†, John Wiley & Sons, 2008 3. Lab worksheet 4. Rollesen â€Å"Metallurgy For Engineering†, ms 15

Beauty And Natural World William Shakespeare Essay

Beauty and Natural World Shakespeare occupied an unparalleled figure in English Literature. He created 154 sonnets. The Shakespeare sonnet is a bright pearl in English poetic history. The most famous one is probably Sonnet 18, often alternatively titled â€Å"Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day†? It is one of the part of the Fair Youth sequence which published its first edition in 1609. In the work, the speaker described the destructive power of time. The eternal beauty that are bought from the poem to the one he loves. A nice summer’s day is usually transient, but the beauty in poetry can last for ever. Nicholas Moschovakis in his article â€Å"Sonnet 18† in The Facts On File Companion to Shakespeare said â€Å"The famous Sonnet is a paradox†(Moschovakis 280). However, I think that this poem represents Shakespeare’s spirituality. His belief and message that he tried to convey through the sonnet was that good things will last forever. In t he beginning of the article, Moschovakis mentioned, â€Å"It praises the beloved but denies the beloved the benefit of that praise. † (Moschovakis 280). He thought Shakespeare compared the young man to be as beautiful as summer. However, as you read more of the sonnet, the narrator contradicts himself as he realizes that summer can be harsh and brutal. It is too short and won’t last forever. The young man that was compared to summer is seen as more beautiful; he is considered almost perfection. The author believed the speaker is not praising the youngShow MoreRelatedEssay on The Life of William Shakespeare1042 Words   |  5 PagesLife of William Shakespeare William Shakespeare is one of the most identifiable icons of England. Shakespeare was one of the greatest and most influential playwright and poet during his lifetime. He is known as the greatest dramatist of all time due to his many poems and plays, such as â€Å"Shall I Compare Thee To A Summers Day?† and Romeo and Juliet. 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Assess The Significance Of Federalism In The USA Essay

Assess the significance of federalism in the USA Federalism involves the sharing of powers between different levels of government. In the United States this relates to the government at national level (the federal government) and those at the level of the state. The United Kingdom is not a federal state instead it is a unitary state where power is held in one place (parliament). Federalism is the process of sharing power between a central government, in America’s case Washington, and the States. The US Constitution dictates what areas the Federal Government have control of and the areas that the States have control of. Amendment 10 of the Bill of Rights dictates that any area that is not a power of Congress, President or Supreme Court it†¦show more content†¦The problem with this is that some States are massively insignificant in the Primary race. It can be seen the federalism in the USA has changed overtime. Federalism is significant in the USA as it has evolved over time. New Federalism emphasised state’s rights, small Government and getting government’s off the back of the people. New Federalism has been especially seen in George Bush’s presidency. It was seen that George Bush had to evolve the republicans into a more federal party due to the events that happened within his presidency. Similarly to this it can be seen that the creation of federalism is also significant in helping the overall maintenance of the United States of America. In 1787 the founding fathers mad e number of important considerations when drafting the American Constitution. Included in those was the desire to limit the power of any single political institution in the New Republic. This means that the fact that Federalism means that power is shared amongst different levels of government it prevents an overpowered central government as different parts of the government will still have power to do specific things. This is important as it established an intricate set of checks and balances which the government have to adhere to and conduct effectively so that the government can run.

Maryland Department Of Natural Resources Wildlife And...

Maryland Department of Natural Resources Wildlife and Heritage Service provides technical assistance and expertise to the public and private sectors for the conservation of Maryland’s wildlife resources. This includes the management of threatened and endangered species, game birds and mammals, and the operation of nearly 115,000 acres of State-owned lands classified as Wildlife Management Areas. The mission of the Wildlife and Heritage Service is to Conserve Maryland s diverse wildlife, plants and the natural communities that support them, using scientific expertise and informed public input. For a breakdown of Maryland’s wildlife conservation history, refer to Unit 1, Lesson 3 and 4 for funding sources. What is difference between game and non-game species? Typically, game species are defined as species harvested for recreational purposes while non-game species are not consumed. More basically, is it hunted or not. 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Car Manufacturing Rich History In Australiaâ€Myassignmnenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Car Manufacturing Rich History In Australia? Answer: Introduction Car manufacturing has a rich history in Australia which has hosted car manufacturing companies for over a century. Infact, the world renowned car manufacturer (Dowling, 2015) Toyota had the first foreign manufacturing facility based in Australia which besides catering to the domestic demand also was exported to other countries. However, with the announcement of withdrawal of support by the government couple of years back, the car industry is about to come to a sad demise. The government would withdraw all support from the car manufacturing industry by February 2018 in wake of which the various manufacturers would close their plants citing economic infeasibility (Dowling, 2017). In this backdrop, the objective of this report is to highlight the government policy with regards to car manufacturing and whether the policy decision taken by the government is correct or not in wake of economic rationale. Discussion Even though the car manufacturing industry traces a long history in Australia but the same would not have been possible without state support. This state support over the years has been extended through protectionism so as to discriminate against the imports and also through various incentives. Infact, it is estimated that over the last decade only, a total sum of $ 5 billion has been extended as state support to car manufacturing industries (Dowling, 2015). Also, it is noteworthy that that the government policy since long has been of managed decline which was never aimed at making the industry sustainable but rather ensuring that the state support be withdrawn in a gradual manner so that the impact on the economy is minimised (Conley, 2014). The main reason for providing support is the employment which is provided both directly and indirectly. The indirect employment is also significant considering the auto ancillaries which are in business so as to provide various parts to the car manufacturing facilities based in Australia. The contribution of car manufacturing to employment in various states of Australia as a percentage of all manufacturing jobs is apparent from the following graph (Jericho, 2014). The pivotal question which arises is why the state support is needed for the Australian car manufacturers to survive. The explanation for this lies in the production costs associated with cars which renders them non-competitive with regards to other car manufacturers. In the cost of production, the particularly concerning cost is labour cost which for car manufacturing tends to be significant (Dowling, 2015). Being a developed country with limited supply of skilled manpower and strict wage laws, the wages paid to the workers in Australia are significantly higher as compared to the low cost destinations found in Asia for car manufacturing. Further, in the recent times, the government has completed removed the import tariffs on cars which has made imported cars more competitive despite the transportation cost. Till now the state was providing support though reluctantly to this ailing industry (Dowling, 2017). Now since the plug has been pulled by the state government, the critical question arises as to whether the industry can sustain through any reforms or policy change. In this regards, it is noteworthy that for production of any good, the factors of production play a vital role. With regards to Australia, it is apparent that the factors of production which Australia has abundant supply of is capital and technology but not labour. This is in sharp contract with Asian developing nations which have vast availability of labour which is semi-skilled and owing to the high unemployment and labour supply, the prevailing wages are quite low which lowers the overall cost of production in these nations. Further, these countries also provide huge markets on accounting of local consumption and hence various foreign manufacturers are locating their manufacturing plants in these locations so as to serve the domestic demand and also cater to exports at a lower cost (KPMG, 2014). It is apparent that Australia by virtue of the factor or resource endowments is more suited for service industry and primary industry (such as agriculture and mining). As a result, it would not be possible for Australian car manufacturing companies to compete with these Asian manufacturing hubs in terms of cost. But, there is an alternative model which is practiced by western car manufacturers based out of Europe that have concentrated on luxury cars only and outsourced the production of mass vehicles if any to low cost destinations (KPMG, 2014). Since the core competency of these developed nations lie in technology, high skilled manpower and capital, hence these have leveraged the available resources to manufacture luxury cars. Similar endeavour could be focused by Australia also having the same set of resources but still on account of the geographical factors, this plan is not feasible in Australia. The European car manufacturers tend to have a significant sized market based at hom e and neighbouring developed countries of Western Europe. However, Australia does not have that privilege with the only neighbouring country of New Zealand and therefore the collective demand from these two nations would not justify setting up a production unit for luxury cars (Williams, 2016). Conclusion Based on the above discussion, it would be appropriate to conclude that the car manufacturing industry in Australia had to close down as it was unsustainable from the beginning. Neither can the Australian manufacturers compete in terms of cost nor can they venture into high end cars due to lack of demand. As a result, it does not make sense to sustain an industry which is not competitive in the modern world when imports are becoming increasingly prevalent. The move by the government is prudent especially considering the fiscal deficit in face of the slowdown from China. Further, the government also needs to deploy the public money in a prudent manner rather than supporting an ailing industry without any sustainable future. References Conley, T.(2014). Managed decline to rapid demise: Abbotts car industrygamble, The Conservation, [Online] Available at https://theconversation.com/managed-decline-to-rapid-demise-abbotts-car-industry-gamble-23124 [Accessed August 25, 2017] Dowling, J. (2015), Who killed the car industry?, The Sydney Morning Herald, [Online] Available at https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/who-killed-the-car-industry-20151112-gkx1c8.html [Accessed August 25, 2017] Dowling, J. (2017), Why Australian car manufacturing died and what it means for our motoring future, Adelaide Now, [Online] Available at https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/technology/why-australian-car-manufacturing-died-and-what-it-means-for-our-motoring-future/news-story/0428dc235d1b44639459959f5a3bbf9b [Accessed August 25, 2017] Jericho, G. (2014). Car industry exit: manufacturing is declining but it is still a vital cog, The Guardian, [Online] Available at https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2014/feb/13/car-industry-exit-manufacturing-declining-but-still-vital [Accessed August 25, 2017] KPMG (2014), The UK Automotive Industry and the EU, KPMG Website, [Online] Available at https://www.kpmg.com/UK/en/IssuesAndInsights/ArticlesPublications/Documents/PDF/Market%20Sector/Automotive/uk-automotive-industry-and-the-eu.pdf [Accessed August 25, 2017] Williams, A. (2016), Collapse of Australian car manufacturing industry, Swinburne Website, Retrieved on August 25, 2017 from https://www.swinburne.edu.au/news/latest-news/2016/10/collapse-of-australian-car-manufacturing-industry-.php [Accessed August 25, 2017]

Whats WordPress Maintenance and How to Make It Easy

WordPress maintenance? Whats that?!youSo youve just installed WordPress for the first time and you couldnt be more thrilled with the results. Everything is simple, intuitive, and youre publishing great content on a regular basis all with the ease of a seasoned webmaster.Then unexpected things start happening.At first, its just one plugin asking for an update. Then another. Next, your theme is apparently out of date. Finally, the whole WordPress software itself needs to be updated. One update doesnt go so well, and now you have errors.You start wondering if you need to back up your blog posts after all, youve written thousands of valuable words that consumed hours and hours of your time. You dont want to end up one of those bloggers asking the WordPress forum how to restore your blog but you also dont know where to start with regular WordPress maintenance.Thats why weve put together some tips for making WordPress maintenance easy, intuitive, and effective.How to simplify WordPress maintenance from the get-goIf youre going to maintain your WordPress website or blog properly, you need two things. First, youll need the right tools and tactics that will make backing up and monitoring your WordPress site as simple as possible.Second, youll need to instill a couple of good habits. After all, you dont want WordPress maintenance to take up more time than is absolutely necessary.WordPress maintenance tactics and toolsSo to help you implement a WordPress maintenance strategy that will safeguard your precious website, lets start with the tactics and tools that can help you out.1. Make a backup of your WordPress websiteWeve just published a detailed on how to backup your WordPress website, however, if youre in a hurry, heres a quick solution.There are a number of ways to do this for example, you can make backups manually via your web hosts cPanel but were not interested in lots of ways. We want one simple and effective way: a WordPress plugin.So install BackWPup: Ba ckWPup WordPress Backup Plugin Author(s): Inpsyde GmbHCurrent Version: 3.6.10Last Updated: September 17, 2019backwpup.3.6.10.zip 88%Ratings 9,094,697Downloads WP 3.9+Requires Watch the videos, and after all of the initial set-up, backing up your WordPress website will be as simple clicking a few buttons every so often.2. Clean up your WordPress databaseYou might be able to tell from the previous tip that we like good, simple WordPress plugins that do most of the work for you. WP Optimize is a database cleanup tool that handles everything from removing stale post revisions to clearing out accumulated post trash. WP-Optimize Clean, Compress, Cache. Author(s): David Anderson, Ruhani Rabin, Team UpdraftCurrent Version: 3.0.12Last Updated: September 24, 2019wp-optimize.3.0.12.zip 98%Ratings 11,586,621Downloads WP 3.8+Requires (Additionally, add a note to yourself that youll want to regularly remove plugins that you no longer use when undergoing WordPress maintenance tasks .)3. Check if your website is indexed in the search enginesIf you want people to be able to find your website, youll need to ensure its indexed or listed in search engines like Google.Doing something as simple as typing site:yoursite.com into the Google search engine field is a  quick way to check that your content is indexed and ready to be displayed to internet searchers.A more advanced option is to use the free Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool to analyze your website. This tool will identify broken links, discover duplicate content, and carry out a few other essential SEO-related tasks to help ensure your website delivers a positive user experience and is search engine friendly.(Another task you can carry out is to search Google for some of the keywords youre targeting in your content. This task can be carried out every so often, just to check up on your visibility in the search engines.)4. Run a security checkScanning your WordPress blog for malware might not seem important now. However, its something youll wish youd done the day after your site has been hacked or infected. You might not think that youre a target for hackers, but malware has a life of its own and doesnt care who you are.The free Sucuri WordPress plugin can help you out with this essential maintenance task. Sucuri Security Auditing, Malware Scanner and Security Hardening Author(s): Sucuri Inc.Current Version: 1.8.21Last Updated: May 9, 2019sucuri-scanner.1.8.21.zip 88%Ratings 5,232,030Downloads WP 3.6+Requires 5. Enable maintenance modeWhen carrying out work on your site, switching to maintenance mode can be a good idea. If you need to update your site quickly, its best not to make incremental changes that everyone can see. Instead, use maintenance mode to temporarily make your site unavailable while you work on improving it. Typically this is only necessary when updating your theme, but its something thats worth knowing about.Theres a plugin called WP Maintenance Mode that will he lp you with that. Its quite easy to use, and lets you display a nice placeholder screen that your visitors will see while youre working behind the curtains.5. Monitor your  search engine optimizationThis essential WordPress maintenance task follows on from ensuring your website is indexed in the search engines. However, the task of website search engine optimization (SEO) is never finished.Free WordPress plugins like Yoast SEO can make your life easier in this department. The plugin will scan your content and let you know which of your posts and pages could be better optimized for increased visibility in the search engines.With Yoast SEO, your goal is to turn a red light to a green light. It only takes a few minutes per post and can ultimately result in vastly improved search engine rankings and more traffic for your WordPress website – something we all want!How to make WordPress maintenance as pain-free as possibleNow you have a list of tools that will help you handle Word Press maintenance in as little as a few minutes every month. However, you wont actually achieve that level of productivity unless you stay conscious of the best practices. Fortunately, we have a few suggestions:a) Set a regular maintenance scheduleUse a tool like Google Calendar to remind you when its time to work on the maintenance of your WordPress website. If necessary, include a link to this post in the description as a reminder of all of the proper tools and steps.https://themeisle.com/blog/wordpress-maintenance-guide/We also recommend keeping a Google Sheets or Excel file with a task list of your duties, such as backing up your data and running a security scan.b) Test your formsIf your site has any forms such as contact forms or orders forms, its essential that you test them by submitting a dummy entry. You wouldnt want to risk those customer inquiries or client leads going missing would you?c) Set and monitor keyword goalsTheres an old saying what gets measured gets managed. If you arent measuring your search engine results, why should you expect incremental improvements?To help with this, install and monitor Google Analytics during your site setup to gauge how youre performing in accordance with those keyword goals. Its tempting to look at Google Analytics every single day, but once a month should suffice after you have a good routine in place.Final thoughts on WordPress maintenanceOnce you get all of the necessary tools plugged in and running, your ongoing WordPress maintenance strategy shouldnt take up much of your time at all. Following a thorough maintenance routine at set intervals, which includes backups, data cleaning, SEO, and security, will help you enhance the WordPress experience for both you and your readers.No one wants a messy WordPress administration dashboard thats full of alerts and error messages, and no one wants to risk losing all of their content and hard work because they didnt back up their website with a few clicks. As long as you use the right tools and develop the right habits, your website will be all the better for it.Do you have any recommendations or tools for better WordPress maintenance? Leave them in the comments below.