Articles in ‘Hosting’

• Head to Head: Drupal vs Joomla vs WordPress

  by Webfusion in Hosting, Web Design on October 21st, 2011 Post a comment

  Sometimes you come across an article that you know you just have to share.

  Here are Webfusion we’ve been talking about new ways in which we can help customers get the most of their hosting space. Thanks to our one-click apps, our shared web hosting customers not only benefit from reliable and trust-worthy web hosting but also a whole range of free web-based applications that are easy to install in directories and get professional, functional websites up and running in minutes. One-click apps offer simple but effective ways of building a website.

  The three most popular of our fusion apps are the CMS (content management system) favourites Drupal and Joomla and the blogger’s favourite WordPress. All three are site builder tools that are modular allowing customisation and development of sites over time. All are easy to use and understand and all are being used across the world to run some of the biggest and most popular websites in the world, including the White House official site.

  So this article from ComputerWorld jumped out at us as it compared all three of the systems available as free fusion apps and offers positives negatives on them. It’s a great start for anybody not fully aware of the capabilities of the apps or what ones would work best with their own business.

  Have a look and let us know what you think.

• Is your blog more important than a flashy website?

  by Webfusion in Business trends, Hosting, Web Design on November 4th, 2010 Post a comment

  There used to be a time when you spent all of your time, effort and money on producing a nice looking website and then perhaps a year or so later ‘developed’ your presence further with the introduction of a blog.

  Nowadays however, with improved blog software, templates and plug-ins, many are turning to blogs as their main and often first step onto the web – even for businesses. For those new to the web, applications like WordPress (available as one of our one-click apps) offer an easy to understand and update, yet professional looking entry onto the internet.

  Even those with more experience are also considering the benefits of a blog-driven site. It is instantly more “dynamic” allowing you to easily update content including multi-media assets. All updated in an instant and with comment enabled, it can also encourage two-way feedback with potential customers. If you use the blog element to talk about your industry too, if others like what they read, it is a great way of developing your business as a respected authority in your field and boosting your credibility.

  Blogs with their ever changing content, likely use of various keywords and often more topical conversations can also boost traffic to your site. Changes in content alert many search engines on which it is already listed of a need to revisit the site to re-index. As a result a blog-driven website is likely to be ‘checked’ much more often than traditional sites. Plus if your blogs are archived search engines are notified of new content on your site this gives them an opportunity to visit your site to index it.

  If your business is a small team, blogs also offer the chance for the updating function to be a shared responsibility. Mobile phone apps also offer the chance of updating the site live from wherever you are. Keeping your customers up to date with what you are up to is a good way of attracting interest and loyalty.

  Obviously, for the best of both worlds the most successful option would be to run with both a traditional html website and a blog site. It is important however that you integrate the blog as far as possible into the main site and it is not always easy to ensure the blog site appears to be in the same style as your main site.

  We are not saying it is the end of traditional websites, but the modern trend for updates, insights and dynamic content mean any business looking to make the most of their internet presence, shouldn’t forget the benefits of using a blog, either stand-alone or integrated.

  How have you used a blog for your business?

• Build with Joomla: Easy Joomla Open Source CMS Installation

  by Webfusion in Hosting on November 4th, 2009 Post a comment

  For web developers looking for a scalable open source CMS, Joomla serves up just the right mix of features.  Since Joomla truly took off as a fork from Mambo, it has shown no signs of slowing down. With the full release of Joomla 1.5 , the software quickly became one of the widely-adopted by experienced developers and beginners alike. Whether you know PHP and mySQL better than English (in that case, consider  some quality science fiction reading, and you might just improve both) or are just looking to get your first site off the ground in less time, we offer easy Joomla hosting options including 1-click installation.

  Setting up Joomla Hosting

  All of our Linux hosting plans come complete with our 1-click applications, which make it easy to get your Joomla site up and running in minutes. In order to install Joomla on your account, you’ll need to register or link a domain name to a Linux package, and then proceed to the custom control panel offered with every Webfusion account. There’s no magic or database knowledge necessary to install Joomla on your server – in fact, all you have to do is install the application on your control panel with just one click:

  Joomla Features

  The mySQL-PHP based content management system gets its unique name from the Arabic word for “complete” (jum-la). Millions of worldwide users have adopted the software which is licensed under the General GNU (open source) public license, and have benefited from the thousands of plugin modules to customize their sites ranging from the Community Builder social networking software to Virtue Mart eCommerce. For virtually any feature, you can find or customize a Joomla module to suit your needs.

• Hope with Drupal: One Step Drupal Hosting Installation

  by Webfusion in Hosting on October 27th, 2009 Post a comment

  As part of the economic stimulus package passed earlier this year, the legislation promised to make the allocation process transparent. After months of active development, the web team at the White House turned to Drupal as the CMS for Recovery.gov. If the Federal government can find hope for recovery in the CMS, then certainly the software is a candidate for nearly any database-driven site.

  At Webfusion, we’re independent when it comes to politics but we’re always advocates for options to make website development easier. For that reason, we are now offering 1-step Drupal hosting installation with every Linux hosting package so you can get your PHP/mySQL site running in just a few minutes without having to manually configure the installation:

  About Drupal

  Drupal CMS

  An open source content management system (CMS) first released in 2001, Drupal has grown to become one of the most popular scale-able website platforms on the market today. With an extensive collection of modules, web publishers can easily integrate blogs, forums, social networking tools, e-Commerce features and even private networks.

  Originally designed to serve as forum software, the open source development community quickly saw the potential in the software to power a wide variety of sites. The name Drupal itself comes from the Dutch word for water drop (“druppel” for those who are still mastering the language), which is the reason for the trademark water-droplet logo.

  Now in its 7^th full release, Drupal seven has been recognized by Webware as a top open source CMS which features core module including analytics, search, blogging, open ID logins, access controls and RSS syndication.  While it can take years to fully master its development potential, our one-step installation process helps you get started on the right track.

• Application Hosting: One-Step Open Source Software Installation

  by Webfusion in Hosting on October 4th, 2009 1 Comment

  As the open source development community has matured, many leading open source applications have approached enterprise-level quality. WordPress, for example, powers sites such as Mashable and the 9 Rules community. As entrepreneurs seek to lower startup costs, solutions such as Sugar CRM (an alternative to Sales Force), Media Wiki (the platform which powers Wikipedia) and PHPBB (the most popular open forum software) have emerged as reliable alternatives to commercial software.

  

  Custom Control Panel

  At Webfusion, we’re making these solutions even more accessible through one-click installation within our hosting control panel. The best part of this feature is that one-click applications are included with all of our Linux hosting plans. We listened to your feedback and made it easier to get your sites online, and kept our pledge to maintain fair, low prices for quality hosting products.

  Now, you can setup leading applications such as Drupal, Joomla, Coppermine and dozens more with just a single click. All you have to do is sit back, wait for the process to finish and then begin customizing your site. As a result you can have a forum, content management system, wiki, customer relationship management (CRM) platform or blog hosting and ready to go in just a few minutes. This feature furthers our goal is to save developers time and money by providing complete, easy to use hosting solutions.

• Security Tips to Protect Your Personal Information

  by Webfusion in Hosting on September 11th, 2009 Post a comment

  

  Computer Security

  At Webfusion, we take the security and privacy of our customers seriously and actively work with our partners to safeguard each and every account. Our 24/7 support staff provides a continuous resource for account holders and prospective customers to reach out with their concerns, and we recently have helped a number of customers to avoid fraudulent email issues.

  Please note that you can call our dedicated support team to confirm all transactions, and that we will never bill you without prior authorization. Like many large companies, our name has been used in unauthorized emails – we encourage customers not to click on links in emails related to unknown Paypal transactions. All of our customer accounts are fully secure and as part of our efforts to safeguard our customer communications, our support staff is available 24/7/365 so please call us with any questions.

  In case you have any questions regarding transactions, feel free to call our diligent support staff to confirm any transactions. Webfusion limits our customer emails to genuine order confirmations and monthly opt-in newsletters – if you receive an email with our name in it but are unsure of the subject matter, please reach out to us in advance of opening the message. Please forward all suspicious emails to salesquestion@webfusion.com – our support staff will work with our partners to determine the authenticity of the message. We’re working hard to safeguard your data in cooperation with our trusted partners, and our technical support team is here to answer any questions you may have.

• Domain and Video Development – Insights from Domainvestors

  by Webfusion in Domains, Hosting on August 12th, 2009 Post a comment

  Webfusion recently sat down for a quick interview with web developer Morgan Linton of Domainvestors.TV. We’ve published the interview below, along with a review that Domainvestors provided of our hosting control panel:

  How did you get involved in web development?

  [Morgan Linton] I started developing web pages when I was 13 years old. At the time the first spec of HTML had just been released and Netscape and Internet Explorer didn’t even exist. I started writing web pages for use with NCSA Mosaic and soon the new HTML spec came-out along with the first version of Netscape Navigator. In High School I started my own company doing web design for high-end real estate and helped some of the top real estate companies create their first online presence. Now at Linton Investments our team designs sites used to monetize the domain investments in our portfolio. We have developed our own techniques for SEO that allow us to build high-quality websites that get excellent rankings and monetize a large percentage of the traffic.

  How has your technical training helped inform your strategies in the domain industry?

  

  PHP

  [ML] I have a Masters Degree in Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University so have always been a techie at heart. My background has helped me analyze search engine algorithms and develop website solutions that can generate and monetize organic traffic. PHP is a great way to create dynamic sites and I’m utilizing both PHP And MySQL in my latest project – BitZee which is debuting in October of this year. With a background in engineering I also am an experience with the process of “divide and conquer” a popular technique used in algorithm design. With all projects I work on breaking the project into smaller pieces and combining it all together in the end to form a complete solution. As an developer I always remember that it is easier to solve a number of smaller problems than one big problem.

  Domainvestors produces a variety of video tutorials – what role do you see for video in the future of search?

  [ML] Video is more than just the future of search – it is the future of content delivery online. With the popularity of YouTube more and more people are getting comfortable with the idea of getting their news and information online in the form of video. I think that 5+ years a majority of people will watch their news online and with phones like Apple’s iPhone it is easier than ever to make that video content portable. This is a fundamental shift in society and doesn’t mean the death of reading but instead the growth of a whole new way to deliver content.

• .info domains on the rise, even as our registration prices fall

  by Webfusion in Domains, Hosting on June 5th, 2009 Post a comment

  This month, Webfusion is offering the lowest price on the market for .info domains – just $0.88! We’re even throwing in 3 months of free hosting to help get you started. Although .com is still king, we’re confident in the future of .info, which has been a fast-growing, widely adopted domain extension since its launch as a TLD in 2001.  In fact, .info is the 4th most popular general TLD extension today with over 4.8 million active registrations.

  One reason why .info has done so well is that the root word is nearly universal across a wide variety of languages – English, German (Informationen), Dutch (informative), Polish (informacje), Portugese (informações), Czech (Informace) and Spanish (información), to name a few. For etymology fans out there (“may I have the origin of the word?“), the root comes from the Latin informationem (a concept or idea) and has become core root word in many languages.

  This year, both registrations and aftermarket sales of .info domains are near all-time highs, reflecting a growing interest in the .info space. Given the extension’s unrestricted status, developers throughout the world have been building .info sites, including some of the top private and public organizations in the world. For example, both Spain.info and Germany.info serve as official tourism portals for their respective countries.Whether you’re looking to invest in .info domains or want to build out some sites (or both), there’s no better time than now.

• i.Biz, coming to a Registrar Near You

  by Webfusion in Domains, Hosting on June 5th, 2009 Post a comment

  

  I.buz

  Neustar, the Registry which manages the .biz extension, earned approval from the ICANN Board of Directors to introduce 1 and 2-character domain names.

  According to the plan approved by ICANN, Neustar is now taking specific Requests for Proposal from prospective users. Based upon these requests, selected names may be allocated, while the remaining names will be auctioned to the highest bidder. Neustar is aiming to work with organizations looking to develop professional sites to enhance the profile of the TLD.

  Prospective organizations have until July 30 to submit their proposals for 1-character .biz domains and until September 30 for 2-character proposals. The proposals require a deposit of $300 and a commitment to develop the name in a professional capacity. Additionally, Neustar will review applications on a competitive basis, evaluating the marketing and development plans of each organization. The auctions for un-allocated domains are scheduled for August 3 and October 30, respectively, in what should make for some exciting auctions.

• Insights from Web Hosting Day 2009

  by Webfusion in Hosting on May 14th, 2009 Post a comment

  Webfusion attended the 5th annual Web Hosting Day conference in Cologne, Germany to explore new ideas to improve our products, make new connections and share our passion for technology with others in the industry. The event featured over 1,000 attendees from over 40 countries, including many of our industry partners.

  As the largest hosting conference in Europe, the event gave our product managers an opportunity to share ideas with partners such as Microsoft and Intel to take our features to the next level. A number of major media outlets attended the event as well; Matt Barry, Head of Webfusion Product Management, shared some of these insights in a Web Hosting Industry Review TV interview: