Web Hosting Basics
When you decide to take your business to the internet, you need to know some basics. First, you select a name for your site that is catchy and descriptive of your service or product line. Avoid picking a name that does not include a description of what someone would find at the site. One or two word names work well. When you have picked a name that you like, you need to register this as your internet domain name. There are several options in Denver for this if you search online. Remember that you do not have to host your website at the same company where you register your domain name, so look for the best deal you can find.
Denver web hosting can be complex for someone who is just starting out. In fact, most people don’t really understand what hosting is or what a hosting company should offer you. These services are places where you can store your website, basically. They range from free services to hosting that you run yourself on your own server. So the first thing you need to do is figure out how involved you want to be. There are several different types of hosting:
• Internet Service Providers. Several ISPs offer basic web pages for free to their email customers. For example, Yahoo! users can set up a website for free when they join Yahoo!. But these sites are really good only for personal sites with a few pages because alongside your content, an ISP will run advertisements. These sites also do not come with any extra features or very much storage space.
• Free Web Hosting. For most businesses in Denver, web hosting needs to be more sophisticated than most free services can provide. If you want to display your pictures on the web or start a blog online, a free service might be good for you. But for business needs, they simply do not offer the space, the features, or the reliability that you need.
• Paid Hosting. This is the most common type of hosting used for small businesses and more complex personal websites. You pay a monthly or yearly fee to a web hosting company in return for space on their site and certain services. The services and features vary widely from company to company. And you can pay anywhere from two dollars to two hundred dollars per month, depending on the company, how much space you need, and what extra features you employ. You can get CGI services, ASP, ecommerce, SSL, database support, extra space and bandwidth, and other features for maximizing your site for the customer. Paid web hosting, in Denver or elsewhere, is the only way to go for a business site, no matter what its size.
• Domain Hosting. This is a great way for small businesses to host their pages at any location, rather than at the hosting company’s site. You can use an ISP, a free hosting service, or any other viable location. Basically, you buy your domain and then the provider forwards all the requests to the web location. The biggest benefit of this type of hosting, besides the savings you may see, is the fact that you can brand your URL.
• Co-location. If you want to run your own web server and be the owner of your machine, but don’t have the dedicated IT department to maintain it, you can use co-location. This service provides a server holding room where you can store your server, even rent one if you want, and then keep control over your web server and architecture.
• Direct Internet Access. To get the most control over your server, you need to host your site yourself. Obviously, you need some experts on staff to maintain it, but for companies with large data centers this is the only way to go.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Wordpress Templates
The Basics Of Customizing Wordpress Templates
Do you want to change the look of your WordPress site or maybe to put something like a banner or adsense code on your blog? In order to do this you need to know about three important things: template files, functions and CSS.
- Template Files
These files are stored in a directory (wp-content/themes/template-name/). So if you are using "default theme", you need to access the files that are stored in "wp-content/themes/default/" directory.
There are several common WordPress template files you should know:
1.header.php
This file is responsible for the appearance of the top section of your blog. If you want to change the header image, you have to access this file. Not only that, this file is also the place to add Meta Tags.
2.footer.php
Similar to the header.php, this file is loaded everytime any page or post of your blog is accessed. It is used to store the HTML tags and the code for the bottom section of your blog.
3.sidebar.php
A sidebar is a section which is usually used to display site navigation. Depending on the theme you are using, a sidebar usually provides links to archives, pages and latest posts.
4.index.php
In fact this file is the main template file. When someone visits the homepage of your blog site, this file will be loaded. Then he/she will see the contents (not the source code) of this file. If you want to make the appearance of your blog become similar to a common website, where there is a static description on the homepage, you may try to put the static content in this file.
Besides those files, a theme usually has some other template files with different purposes. For example, the archives.php is a file used to display posts you made in the past. Then the search.php is used to generate search results.
- Functions
A function is a blog of code to accomplish a specific task. In order to modify template files, you don't need to master any programming language. Although having a little knowledge in PHP, you can work faster. In WordPress, the name of a function is usually related to its purpose. For instance, "the_title()" is a function to display the title of a post and "the_content()" is used to display its content. Another example is "blog_info()" which is responsible for displaying the name or description of your blog, depending on the given argument (additional data).
- CSS
Style Sheet is a facility to manage the format and layout of a website efficiently. Without using it, changing small things such as the font type or the background color of all of your webpages is a daunting task where you have to do it page by page. But with the existence of style sheet, one change you make can affect the whole site. You should know that in WordPress a different theme may have a different css file. You also need to know that some styles may be defined in the header.php file. If you are using the "default theme", you have to access the header.php file in order to change the background color or the header image of your blog, not the css file.
Finally, before you customize the templates, it is highly recommended to backup any files you intend to change. If something doesn't work properly, you can always go back to the original settings.
Do you want to change the look of your WordPress site or maybe to put something like a banner or adsense code on your blog? In order to do this you need to know about three important things: template files, functions and CSS.
- Template Files
These files are stored in a directory (wp-content/themes/template-name/). So if you are using "default theme", you need to access the files that are stored in "wp-content/themes/default/" directory.
There are several common WordPress template files you should know:
1.header.php
This file is responsible for the appearance of the top section of your blog. If you want to change the header image, you have to access this file. Not only that, this file is also the place to add Meta Tags.
2.footer.php
Similar to the header.php, this file is loaded everytime any page or post of your blog is accessed. It is used to store the HTML tags and the code for the bottom section of your blog.
3.sidebar.php
A sidebar is a section which is usually used to display site navigation. Depending on the theme you are using, a sidebar usually provides links to archives, pages and latest posts.
4.index.php
In fact this file is the main template file. When someone visits the homepage of your blog site, this file will be loaded. Then he/she will see the contents (not the source code) of this file. If you want to make the appearance of your blog become similar to a common website, where there is a static description on the homepage, you may try to put the static content in this file.
Besides those files, a theme usually has some other template files with different purposes. For example, the archives.php is a file used to display posts you made in the past. Then the search.php is used to generate search results.
- Functions
A function is a blog of code to accomplish a specific task. In order to modify template files, you don't need to master any programming language. Although having a little knowledge in PHP, you can work faster. In WordPress, the name of a function is usually related to its purpose. For instance, "the_title()" is a function to display the title of a post and "the_content()" is used to display its content. Another example is "blog_info()" which is responsible for displaying the name or description of your blog, depending on the given argument (additional data).
- CSS
Style Sheet is a facility to manage the format and layout of a website efficiently. Without using it, changing small things such as the font type or the background color of all of your webpages is a daunting task where you have to do it page by page. But with the existence of style sheet, one change you make can affect the whole site. You should know that in WordPress a different theme may have a different css file. You also need to know that some styles may be defined in the header.php file. If you are using the "default theme", you have to access the header.php file in order to change the background color or the header image of your blog, not the css file.
Finally, before you customize the templates, it is highly recommended to backup any files you intend to change. If something doesn't work properly, you can always go back to the original settings.
Virtual Dedicated Server
Advantages Of Cheap Virtual Dedicated Server
Author: Ricky Lim
Most webmasters started off using single domain hosting or shared web-hosting services. Shared web hosting means you share a server with dozens of other webmasters. Typically, shared web hosting plans allows you to have more than 1 domain per shared web hosting account with a predetermined hard disk space and bandwidth. The cost is usually pretty low. You only need to pay around 3-10 dollars per month.
Although it is cheap to host your website on single or shared web hosting accounts, there are many disadvantages you should be aware of.
By the nature of shared hosting, the server resources are shared among many websites, therefore it is very easy for resources such as CPU and memory to be used up quickly. Certain types of websites such as proxy sites are known to generate high CPU utilization, therefore if your website is on the same server, be advised there is a possibility of your website going down. Spam complaints against other sites on the same server will also affect your website. Any form of denial of service attack against someone else hosting can impact on the uptime of your website.
Also some web hosting companies over packed too many hosting accounts on one server causing the server to be slow and sluggish. The end result is your website is up but takes too long to load and display properly.
How can you do to avoid this issue?
Years ago, the only solution is to get a dedicated server. However, nowadays you can get a cheap virtual dedicated server for less than 30 dollars a month.
A cheap dedicated virtual server or VPS allows you to run your sites as if you own the server virtually. In reality, the dedicated server is spilt into multiple virtual dedicated servers. The main advantage is that each virtual dedicated server has control over it’s own resources such as CPU, RAM etc. So each virtual dedicated server is totally isolated from other virtual servers and will not be affected if other webmasters bring their servers down.
Some web-hosting providers also have unmetered bandwidth, which is a plus.
So Are There Any Disadvantages in having a virtual dedicated server?
There are not many major disadvantages except for cost. It will cost a little bit more on hosting. The other disadvantage is you need to be technically proficient in administering the server. However, some web-hosting providers also can provide managed virtual dedicated server. It means they will help you to manage the server. Examples are routine server maintenance, security patches etc.
With increased speed and reliability from using cheap virtual dedicated server, you will rest easy that your websites are always up while you are sleeping.
Author: Ricky Lim
Most webmasters started off using single domain hosting or shared web-hosting services. Shared web hosting means you share a server with dozens of other webmasters. Typically, shared web hosting plans allows you to have more than 1 domain per shared web hosting account with a predetermined hard disk space and bandwidth. The cost is usually pretty low. You only need to pay around 3-10 dollars per month.
Although it is cheap to host your website on single or shared web hosting accounts, there are many disadvantages you should be aware of.
By the nature of shared hosting, the server resources are shared among many websites, therefore it is very easy for resources such as CPU and memory to be used up quickly. Certain types of websites such as proxy sites are known to generate high CPU utilization, therefore if your website is on the same server, be advised there is a possibility of your website going down. Spam complaints against other sites on the same server will also affect your website. Any form of denial of service attack against someone else hosting can impact on the uptime of your website.
Also some web hosting companies over packed too many hosting accounts on one server causing the server to be slow and sluggish. The end result is your website is up but takes too long to load and display properly.
How can you do to avoid this issue?
Years ago, the only solution is to get a dedicated server. However, nowadays you can get a cheap virtual dedicated server for less than 30 dollars a month.
A cheap dedicated virtual server or VPS allows you to run your sites as if you own the server virtually. In reality, the dedicated server is spilt into multiple virtual dedicated servers. The main advantage is that each virtual dedicated server has control over it’s own resources such as CPU, RAM etc. So each virtual dedicated server is totally isolated from other virtual servers and will not be affected if other webmasters bring their servers down.
Some web-hosting providers also have unmetered bandwidth, which is a plus.
So Are There Any Disadvantages in having a virtual dedicated server?
There are not many major disadvantages except for cost. It will cost a little bit more on hosting. The other disadvantage is you need to be technically proficient in administering the server. However, some web-hosting providers also can provide managed virtual dedicated server. It means they will help you to manage the server. Examples are routine server maintenance, security patches etc.
With increased speed and reliability from using cheap virtual dedicated server, you will rest easy that your websites are always up while you are sleeping.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)