All posts by Natasa Kilibarda

Tips & Tutorials

VPS vs WordPress Shared Hosting: Which One to Go For?

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Are you thinking to create your own WordPress website? Well, then you must have made some crucial decisions for taking actions onto them accordingly. Among all these new traits, one of the vital factors which you should consider is the hosting type. This may confuse many but by opting for the wrong decision against the hosting type you can result in negative repercussions.

There are tons of hosting options available in the market for your WordPress website, but among all, there are two main and most used high-level solutions – Virtual Private Server (VPS) and Shared web hosting.

Dedicated Servers are almost always the best option, but it could be a bit pricey for the beginning of your online business journey.

Both VPS and Dedicated are among the high tier of hosting options available for the WordPress websites as they make use of just one server to host a site but in variant ways.

The VPS offers to host on a server which contains virtual divisions and the server can also be split among the various other websites conveying that the resources are limited.

On the other side, a dedicated hosting environment indicates that you have an entire server which includes its various resources or in simple terms, your website is the only one on the server.

In this article, we will be looking at the key points by differentiating between VPS and Shared WordPress hosting and discuss various factors to select which is the best to opt for. Let’s get started!

Server Resources

As the term indicates, the shared hosting customers have to share server resources whereby the dedicated hosting clients get a server dedicated to their sites as per the needs. A VPS is lying in the gray area in the middle of the bulk slices of the same server that acts as their own dedicated hardware entities. There are pros and cons to both spectrum be if VPS or Shared hosting.

VPS Hosting

With the VPS hosting, you can enjoy a greater private deck space and higher availability of the resources overall. This is necessary as if you wish to expand your business and need to offer the customers a rich user experience that goes far beyond the basic shared hosting level.

Shared Hosting

When it comes to the shared hosting, you need to face some limitations as you have to share server resources with others. Amidst no single account can impact anyone’s experience but there will be maximum available memory/RAM, disk space and CPUs. Beyond the maximum allotted resources, your website is not able to use them and this may not be a huge deal if your website doesn’t need a tone of space or processing power.

Performance

You must believe that more resources lead to more performance but the shared hosting is only performant as your host implements the technologies for the speed. You need to have more control over the performance factor with a VPS in certain terms.

VPS Hosting

It is not at all surprising how VPS hosting offers better overall performance based on the bandwidth which it offers to the users. You will have more flexibility for app configuration on the server but still, you need to make sure to have a dedicated system admin for running the server smoothly. VPS stands as a better option if you have high traffic demands or manage multiple websites.

Shared Hosting

As with the shared plan, many other websites can affect the performance of your website as there is a risk you run by opting for the more economical shared hosting plan. If the performance demand of your website is limited and you value the ease of maintenance then the shared hosting is likely to yield a higher ROI.

Security

As the sharing server resources offer huge benefits from a cost point of view as it can create havoc on the security end of the things. It really depends on how much the hosting provider has invested in the operation and financial resources to ensure dedicated security for its shared hosting clients.

VPS Hosting

You need to ensure that the security of your website is more robust and has safety features which are not only available with the help of VPS hosting. If you have got a huge budget, you can implement better customer support services which will assist patrons when they require it. If you want to protect your personal data for the business, it is pennyworth to consider upgrading to a VPS.

Shared Hosting

This option is considered as most safe but be aware as the security breaches can occur simply because of the common server which does not guarantee total security. The reason behind this can be a Noisy Neighbor problem or experiencing a technical difficulty when one shared hosting customer makes any mistake. This is likely going to impact all the other sites because you are sharing the same space on the machine. There is limited customer support as and when compared to VPS hosting. Thereby, if your website does not require any personal data from the users you should not have any issue with the shared hosting plan.

Pricing

The price factor can be very negligible or sometimes a funny thing as you might find yourself paying a hefty cost per month on shared hosting with the poor service or sign up for a VPS for as little as 15 bucks per month and never look back again. Do your math.

VPS Hosting

An expensive plan is gradually going to offer more premium features with any paid service and the same is true for VPS hosting. Hence, if you want to improve the performance of your website or need to increase the online services of your business, then VPS hosting can get you better customization with a better performance option than shared hosting.

Shared Hosting

With the shared hosting plan, you have to pay the expenses as per the maintenance of a server because you are sharing server space with hundreds of other websites as well. From a fair price point, shared hosting can be the most economical choice and becomes a great option for those who are looking to host a website with standard functionality.

Server Admin

In simple terms, the shared hosts handle the hardware for you whereas, in VPS, you are responsible for managing the server unless you choose a host that handles server monitoring, bug fixes, and security patches.

VPS Hosting

The VPS-hosted websites are more complex in terms of resource management and require a specific system administration to focus on server maintenance. The benefits of using VPS is that you are able to customize your website and configure whichever applications and software you want by increasing the performance and security.

Shared Hosting

If you wish to host your website on a shared server then you do not need to have any technical maintenance of the server. This indicates that you can enjoy basic server administration for your site with no additional cost to your budget or precious time. For many website owners, this can be a huge plus as no dedicated system admin is required.

Which One to Go for?

After getting the difference between both the sites, it is vital to decide which hosting plan you want to go for. In the majority of the websites, a shared hosting plan will be more than suffice. But still, if you are looking for a high-end hosting plan then you can try your hands on VPS for better WordPress development.

About the author: HP Morgan is a Tech Analyst at Tatvasoft.com.au, It is Software Development Service provider in Australia. He is having seven years of experience in a Technological domain. He loves to travel to Spontaneous places.

Security

5 First Steps to Secure Your New Website

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Launching your first website is truly exciting. Isn’t it?

We know.

You’re full of anticipation for lots of traffic and high conversion rates and engagement. Don’t call us the party poopers, but your high expectations will be short-lived if you don’t take the proper steps to secure your new online asset at every access point.

Websites that are vulnerable to hacking and data leaks are no good for your reputation, and they’ll cause your ranking in searches to suffer.

How can you protect your information and that of your visitors or staff? By following these 5 simple tips that are easy enough for even a complete novice to implement.

Website Security Best Practices

Every stable build begins with a good foundation. That’s why it’s best to incorporate security into your design from the beginning rather than waiting until there’s trouble with your website.

1. Use a Secure Content Management System (CMS)

The first step is to decide how you’ll build your website and manage your content if you haven’t already. Those who are going with a professional web developer have less to be concerned about as long as you’re working with a reputable company or individual. However, you should still emphasize while your website is still in the design stage that the developer incorporate security features that are appropriate for the level of safety you need. Your web designer can also explain the various features, why they’re needed, and how to maintain security after you go live.

If you’re going the DIY route, security will be at least partially determined by the platform you choose. For example, building a website with WIX comes with hosting included, but it’s still up to you to bolster it with anti-virus software, security and access management.

With WordPress websites, you can install firewalls and plugins that improve platform security. Since this platform is not self-hosted, you’ll have to shop carefully for a hosting service that puts security at a premium. More on that in a minute.

One thing you should beware of no matter which platform you choose is the security of plugins and themes. These are third-party add-ons and frameworks that control how your website looks and functions. Most web builders have their own inventory of plugins, but there are also many free and premium add–ons available on the internet.

Try to stay away from open source libraries because many don’t thoroughly test plugins before adding them to their database. Premium plugins and themes may cost a little extra, but the license comes with support, patches, and upgrades. Some developers who create free add-ons and themes will provide patches and upgrades, but there is no ongoing support or resolution platform for issues that might arise.

2. Control Who Has Access

Unfortunately, too many data leaks and hacks can be chalked up to a simple human error. Even if employees are using their own devices at work or leaving accounts open when using a public network on the road. Or if they’re unaware of security best practices, in the first place.

This is where having an enterprise-wide security protocol can help, but you should make employee education and training a priority. One of the first lessons is to stop relying on staff to create secure passwords. Instead, opt for a password manager software to create unique, hacker-proof passwords for each device and account connected with your network. Among encryption tools, the best password management software applications (we use 1Password, for instance) on the market today incorporate two-factor authentication that requires a traditional password and a key that puts extra layers of encryption between you and the bad guys.

You can control access in other ways, too. Practice a “least privilege” method of control that allows access to certain levels, accounts, or employees according to need. Limiting bring your own device (BYOD) will also reduce risk.

3. Choose a Secure, Reliable Hosting Platform

The second most important security measure is to choose wisely when looking for a web hosting platform. Web development companies sometimes have a hosting service as well. However, if you go with a pro that doesn’t offer web hosting, you build organically from scratch, or you’re using WordPress, you’ll have to find a reputable hosting service. And that is a good thing.

There are literally hundreds of website hosts and servers on the market, as a quick Google search will prove. You can look for a budget plan, but try to stay away from free or shared hosting. Take this one very seriously.

When you’re sharing resources with other website owners, their problems can become your problems, and “free” hosting services may still store and sell your data even if they offer basic security; many do away with security altogether, which is why they can afford to offer free hosting platforms. With dedicated hosting, you have a little more flexibility as far as available resources, but a lot of the security measures rest with you.

The best hosting platforms deploy military-grade 256-bit AES encryption, offer SSL authentication, have built-in firewall protection, and perform regular backups. Just make sure that you have access to their backup system and implement your own security measures on top of what your hosting plan provides. They also guarantee uptimes, bandwidth, and speed (here are some tips for even faster performance), but make sure you get any promises in writing with your service level agreement (SLA).

4. Install High-Grade Security Features

Once you’ve chosen a secure platform, devised and implemented security practices, you need to install protection on each network and connected device. In addition to antivirus, anti-spyware, and anti-malware software, install your own firewall if one isn’t included by your hosting service. Installing a VPN is also a smart choice because it encrypts your data from your router as well as masking your identity, location, and activity.

Configure your router to segment your network into different lines, one for business, one for personal use or guests, and another for any IoT devices. That way, if one area is accessed, your other networks won’t go down with it.

5. Keep Everything Updated

Having all of the most current security features in place won’t protect you for long if you don’t keep them updated. Whenever you can, set all plugins and security software to auto-install updates. Make sure that you’re using the most current versions of all plugins, themes, and WordPress, and keep the firmware for your router and firewall up to date.

One of the vulnerabilities that website owners overlook is right in their databases. Make sure that you completely uninstall any old, obsolete, or unused plugins and themes. Simply disabling them isn’t good enough.

Final Thoughts

Getting your website off the ground the right way involves a combination of solid, responsive design, a reliable hosting platform, and high-grade security. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, and the ROI provides value that goes beyond dollars. We hope these security guidelines and best practices will help you get off to a good start. 

About the author: Sam Bocetta is a freelance journalist specializing in U.S. diplomacy and national security, with emphases on technology trends in cyberwarfare, cyberdefense, and cryptography.

News

Cloudflare Blames Bad Software Deploy for the Outage

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It was just a week ago when the internet had a small heart attack. Then, most of the netizens worldwide were blaming Cloudflare, and they had the right to do so, but the issue was a bit more complicated.

A small company in Northern Pennsylvania became a preferred path of many Internet routes through Verizon (AS701), a major Internet transit provider. This was the equivalent of Waze routing an entire freeway down a neighborhood street — resulting in many websites on Cloudflare, and many other providers, to be unavailable from large parts of the Internet. Cloudflare states that this should never have happened because Verizon should never have forwarded those routes to the rest of the Internet.

Cloudflare

However, to be fair, these issues are quite common. Humans make mistakes, but as long as we learn from them, we should be good for the future.

And with that been said, yesterday it happened again. But this time, Cloudflare was indeed the one to be blamed. Bad software deploy, to be exact. Read on for the full update on the issue from the Cloudflare team:

This is a short placeholder blog and will be replaced with a full post-mortem and disclosure of what happened for about 30 minutes yesterday July 2nd,. Visitors to Cloudflare sites received 502 [bad gateway] errors caused by a massive spike in CPU utilization on Cloudflare network. This CPU spike was caused by a bad software deploy that was rolled back. Once rolled back the service returned to normal operation and all domains using Cloudflare returned to normal traffic levels.

This was not an attack (as some have speculated) and we are incredibly sorry that this incident occurred. Internal teams are meeting as I write performing a full post-mortem to understand how this occurred and how we prevent this from ever occurring again.

Update at 2009 UTC:

Starting at 1342 UTC today we experienced a global outage across our network that resulted in visitors to Cloudflare-proxied domains being shown 502 errors (“Bad Gateway”). The cause of this outage was deployment of a single misconfigured rule within the Cloudflare Web Application Firewall (WAF) during a routine deployment of new Cloudflare WAF Managed rules.

The intent of these new rules was to improve the blocking of inline JavaScript that is used in attacks. These rules were being deployed in a simulated mode where issues are identified and logged by the new rule but no customer traffic is actually blocked so that we can measure false positive rates and ensure that the new rules do not cause problems when they are deployed into full production.

Unfortunately, one of these rules contained a regular expression that caused CPU to spike to 100% on our machines worldwide. This 100% CPU spike caused the 502 errors that our customers saw. At its worst traffic dropped by 82%.

This chart shows CPU spiking in one of our PoPs:

Cloudflare: CPU spike

We were seeing an unprecedented CPU exhaustion event, which was novel for us as we had not experienced global CPU exhaustion before.

We make software deployments constantly across the network and have automated systems to run test suites and a procedure for deploying progressively to prevent incidents. Unfortunately, these WAF rules were deployed globally in one go and caused today’s outage.

At 1402 UTC we understood what was happening and decided to issue a ‘global kill’ on the WAF Managed Rulesets, which instantly dropped CPU back to normal and restored traffic. That occurred at 1409 UTC.

We then went on to review the offending pull request, roll back the specific rules, test the change to ensure that we were 100% certain that we had the correct fix, and re-enabled the WAF Managed Rulesets at 1452 UTC.

We recognize that an incident like this is very painful for our customers. Our testing processes were insufficient in this case and we are reviewing and making changes to our testing and deployment process to avoid incidents like this in the future.

Security, Tips & Tutorials

How to Troubleshoot a Misbehaving WordPress Theme

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Whether you are looking to start an eCommerce business or just a hobby blog, WordPress serves as one of the top blogging platforms on the internet today by market share.

At its core, WordPress is a content management system (CMS) that allows you to build dynamic websites with text, images, audio, and video.

Style is important for any website. If your pages are not visually appealing, you’ll have a hard time attracting users and customers. Thanks to WordPress pages, you don’t have to worry about constructing your own HTML and CSS designs. Instead, you can pick from a large library of WordPress themes to set the colors, fonts, and overall look of your website.

Unfortunately, sometimes you may run into issues after installing a new theme or migrating from an old one. In this article, we’ll run through the ways to troubleshoot and resolve common problems on WordPress.

Cleanse Your Browser

Before you start tinkering with server settings and WordPress configurations, you should make sure the issues you are experiencing are not tied to the browser you are using on your local computer. Browsers like Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox use a system of caching to help websites load faster. As a result, sometimes they do not pick up HTML or CSS changes immediately.

To make sure you are testing your WordPress page with a completely fresh browser, go into the application settings and clear all cookies, cache, and saved data. Then restart the browser and load your primary WordPress URL again. If the theme is still presenting an error or not loading correctly, then you should proceed to the next step.

Check PHP Memory Settings

If you are trying to install a complex WordPress theme, there is a chance that your backend application server is running out of memory and causing the website to display an error message with code 500. Fortunately, with a quick code change, you can up that limit and test the website again.

The WordPress platform uses the PHP coding language in the backend and relies on a hidden file called .htaccess to control various configuration settings. To modify it, browse to the “wp-admin” folder on your live application server and open the .htaccess file in a text editor. Then enter the following line and save the changes: php_value memory_limit 256M.

To make the new memory limit take effect, you will need to restart the backend server and the WordPress application. If your web pages continue to display errors or fail to load, then the memory size is likely not the root cause of the issue.

Disable Plugins

WordPress users can only enable a single theme at a time for each of their websites or blogs. However, with the use of third-party plugins, additional functionality can be incorporated to modify how a theme looks or responds. The bad news is that since these add-ons are created by outside developers, they will not always be compatible with the WordPress theme you have chosen.

After installing a new theme or migrating to a new WordPress environment, there is a chance that incompatibility with plugins could make your entire website unusable. If this happens, you should immediately log in to the admin console using your credentials. Then select the “Plugins” menu from the left navigation bar to see a list of all add-ons being used in your WordPress environment.

To be safe, it’s recommended that you click the “Deactivate” link next to each individual plugin to reduce the chances of one interfering with your WordPress theme. If the theme starts functioning properly again, then you can reactivate the plugins one at a time to determine which one is causing the problem or is incompatible.

Confirm URL Settings

In some cases, switching to a new WordPress theme may negatively affect how the URL of your website functions. For this reason, it’s important to test your web address settings after making any theme-related changes. To do so, go back to the admin console and navigate to the “Settings” menu on the left navigation bar.

Scroll down and look for the two fields labeled “WordPress Address” and “Site Address.” Both of these URLs should match and with http:// or https://. Keep in mind that you will need to own an active domain name, like a .com or .net, in order to configure it with your WordPress site. If either of the URL fields are incorrect, make the appropriate changes and click the “Save” button.

Tweak Link Settings

Besides customizing the look and feel of your website, a WordPress theme can also affect how your individual pages are grouped and arranged. For example, a new blog theme might collect all of your posts based on the month they were created in, instead of based on the keywords you’ve tagged. As a result, you may need to troubleshoot your link settings.

The term permalink is used to describe any URL that is meant to remain static so that it can be bookmarked or archived and the link to it is never lost. WordPress allows users to choose how their permalinks are configured through the “Settings” area of the admin console.

Once there, choose the format that you prefer. You can pick between date-based links, numeric links, or links based on the headlines of content. There is also an option to create your own custom permalink format, but this is not recommended if you are already having page issues with your theme. Click “Save” when you are ready and then wait a few minutes for the link changes to be made across your site.

Consult With Your Host

In the early days of the WordPress platform, most users would install the codebase on their own private server being run from a home or office. The cloud computing movement has completely done away with that model, with the majority of WordPress sites now hosted in shared data centers through cloud providers.

Many service providers include WordPress hosting as part of their monthly packages, often with a simplified one-click installation process. It’s important to comparison shop when looking for the best WordPress host, prioritizing flexibility, reliability, and security in particular. Also, look for a hosting service that offers individualized support with technical experts who can help troubleshoot errors specific to a custom WordPress theme.

For problems with WordPress themes, your hosting provider should be able to examine the back-end architecture of your website and determine if the source of the issue exists there. Your installation may need to be moved to new hardware or a different data center. In other cases, a network routing change might be required to get your site in a healthy state.

Revert to a Backup

If worst comes to worst, you always have the option to switch your WordPress site back to a standard theme or else revert to a backup. Some users may choose to set up a third-party plugin that will automatically capture snapshots of their WordPress code and theme over time. However, most cloud hosting providers will also include a backup service with a host subscription.

Be aware that most WordPress themes will receive updates periodically. These changes could be to fix known bugs or add new features. In either case, it is best practice to perform a full site backup before updating any theme files, as there is a chance something could go wrong and you might encounter unexpected errors.

Final Thoughts

WordPress is a powerful and flexible platform for building modern websites and filling them with content. But given the complexity of the underlying system and code, certain errors or issues may arise over time. If you have recently switched to a new WordPress theme, it could create problems related to your site’s configuration.

In the future, you may also want to consider adding a secondary environment to your WordPress installation. Many companies use what’s known as a staging environment to experiment with theme and code changes before pushing them up to the live production system. The goal with this is to reduce the pain of downtime for both site users and yourself.

About the author: Sam Bocetta is a freelance journalist specializing in U.S. diplomacy and national security, with emphases on technology trends in cyberwarfare, cyberdefense, and cryptography.

Security, Tips & Tutorials

Hacked Website Can Cost You a Business, Be Cautious

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According to statistics, hackers hack about 20-30 thousand websites around the world. Among them may be simple websites, business cards, consisting of several pages, as well as corporate resources of substantial companies. Below we briefly describe several significant hacks that have occurred recently.

In February 2014, the Forbes website was severely damaged. The hacker attack was organized by representatives of the so-called Syrian e-army in retaliation for the publication of information materials about Syria by this publication. Because of the attack, the personal data of millions of website users (email, usernames, passwords, URLs) were made public. Besides, hackers posted fake news on the Forbes pages.

In January 2014, the leading resource Snapchat was hacked. According to hackers, this was done for demonstration purposes (to draw the attention of resource owners to system vulnerabilities). Because of the attack, phone numbers, and logins of approximately 5 million users were made public.

In October 2013, hackers managed to hack into the Adobe website. The scope here was, about 150 million user accounts suffered (logins, passwords, password hints, and email addresses were revealed).

During 2011, hackers attacked Sony’s websites at once several times. Most of all “got” the user accounts of Sony PlayStation, as well as the user accounts of the resource Sony Pictures, disclosed personal data – names, dates of birth, as well as email, phone numbers, and logins.

What to do if the website is hacked

With hacked website, all site data is at risk – personal payment information, customer base, portal files, etc.

First, you need to check your website code for vulnerabilities, if it is — immediately close it. Take into account the fact that once hacked resource, hackers will leave a loophole for re-hacking. It is necessary to perform a comprehensive analysis of the website, entrusting this matter to a highly qualified professional. Only this person will be able to calculate such moves of the intruders and cut off the oxygen with them.

Let’s analyze the systematic instructions of your actions when a hack is detected:

Check your computer or laptop for viruses. To do this, you can use both paid antivirus programs and their free counterparts, which are freely available.

Download and install the FireWall program. It will allow blocking access to the penetration of the program of intruders that could cause damage to equipment. Firewall can be said to be paid or free, and they are equally valid.

Notify your hosting provider about what happened. Most likely, not only your resource has been hacked, but also other websites that are hosted on the same server. Ask the provider to analyze the hacking, to identify the reasons.

Change all your passwords, all resources, and sections.

Tell visitors to your website customers about what happened and that they should be careful. Encourage them to change the password from the personal account on your website.

Back up your data and files

Check the file type .htaccess. Most often, hackers change their code to redirect users to their resources.

Prepare for what may have to delete existing files. The attackers could hide the access code in one of the data so they will have to be removed. In the future, you can restore files using the backup.

Upgrade to the latest version of CMS.

How to protect the website from hacking

To understand how to protect your website, you need to consider the basic methods of hacking and means of countering them.

Install good antiviruses. The most common reason for hacking is virus software on the administrator’s computer.

Create complex passwords for admin panel and FTP client. The simpler it is, the higher the likelihood that an attacker will pick up a password.

Regularly update the CMS. No one is immune to vulnerabilities. Keep track of the relevance of the CMS version so that the hacker cannot take advantage of system vulnerabilities.

Host one website on a particular web hosting package. Having cracked one resource, the swindler will get access to other portals that use the same account for FTP.

Restore the website after the attack is severe. It is easier not to allow it. Keep all data secret and do not trust strangers.

There is a reasonable question – why hackers hack someone else’s website? What is the point of this? The reasons for hacking the site may be several. Below we list the most basic.

1. For the sake of interest

Strange as it may seem, many websites are hacked simply because they can be hacked (we are talking about relatively simple and weakly protected resources).

People want to annoy someone else, make it unpleasant. Yes and his pride with a marked increase.

2. For revenge

In some cases, websites hack because of personal dislike for the webmaster or administrator.

For example, a person was banned on some forum (for an objective or subjective reason). He wants to take revenge on his offenders. One way to do this is to hire a hacker and hack the forum.

An author’s blog can also be hacked (for example, if the opinion of this author is radically different from the idea of the user who resorts to hacking). In other words, in all cases, personal hostility is involved.

3. To fight competitors

For this reason, corporate websites are most often hacked (to reduce the profits of competitors, add additional problems to them).

It is clear that it is challenging to completely steal the website (and everything connected with it), but it is quite realistic to disable it for a while, and during this time, competitors will certainly lose a large number of potential customers.

The higher the degree of competition in the subject, the higher the likelihood of hacking.

4. For sending spam, for DDoS

Sometimes hacking is not the ultimate goal, but one of the steps to achieve this goal. For example, a hacked website can be used for subsequent advertising of its goods and services, for sending spam messages. In this case, you will not risk anything (the responsibility for the newsletter will fall on the hacked website).

Besides, hacked resources are often used as websites for DDoS attacks. DDoS is short for Distributed Denial of Service. It means that so many requests from different Internet access points are sent to the attacked website (the so-called “DDoS victim”) that the site “crashes” and stops working.

5. To host external links

In this case, we are talking about large visited websites that have good TIC and PR. TIC means thematic index of citing reflecting trust level of the website while PR means page rank, which was input by Google back in the year 1996 for numerical reflection of trust of a web page for search engine. After hacking such websites, hackers place their links to the resources they need to build up SEO indicators.


About the author: Melisa Marzett is a freelance writer who is working for essay-editor.net for quite some time now and gained experience of an expert in the area of writing. She is a movie enthusiast who is a good listener and always ready to help. She likes people who are creative and can do something with their hands.

Tips & Tutorials

How to Backup And Migrate Your WordPress Website

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Are you thinking to migrate your WordPress site from the current ones to a new hosting company or a new server? When moving from web hosting or migrating a website to a new server the risk can be associated with data loss and downtime. Both the factors can make the site inaccessible to users temporarily which will eventually result in loss of sales and search engines rankings. In this article, we will be showing you how to migrate your WordPress site safely to a new host without any downtime.

Are you ready? Let’s begin.

Select a New WordPress Host

If you feel like getting stuck with slow web host even after boosting your WordPress speed and performance but it’s the right time to migrate your site to a new host which can handle your growing traffic. There are numerous options when coming to website migration.

Of course, you can always go for AltusHost’s Pure SSD VPS or Dedicated server packages. If you are looking for a managed WordPress hosting then we are here for you also.

Do not try to install WordPress after buying a new hosting as for now you need to completely empty your new web hosting account files and folders in your main directory.

Easy-moving by setting up Duplicator

All you are required to do is install and activate the free Duplicator plugin on your website which you want to migrate. It is a free plugin what allows moving your website to a new domain name without losing SEO. Once you have activated Duplicator, select the packages page from the WordPress admin area. Then after, click on to create new packages and follow a few steps to create the one. The whole process may take up to several minutes to complete.

Import to the New host

After completely downloading your archive and installer files, you need to upload all of them to your new web host by using FTP. In general, you need to enter your website’s domain as host when trying to connect your FTP client. You will need to connect by giving your server’s IP address or hostname if it still points to your old host. You can get this information from the cPanel dashboard of your new hosting account accordingly. If you cannot find out this information than you can ask for support at your new web hosting company to help you out. Just make sure your root directory is totally empty as you need to delete the WordPress first before installing it in your root directory.

Rename the host files

You need to access an installer.php file in a browser after you have uploaded both the files to your new host. However, when you enter any URL into your old web host it will return a 404 error which indicates that your domain name is still pointing to your old web host. It is generally advised to change your domain nameservers and point it to your new hosting company but this can lead to break your website. The host files are used to map your domain names to a specific IP address. This lets you trick your computer in thinking whether the website is moved to a new host or not.

Creating a new SQL database on the new host

Before you run the installer on the new host, you are required to create a MySQL database on your new hosting account. After creating the database, add users to it which will generate username that gives all the permissions to work on that database. Now, your database is ready to be used with WordPress and make sure to secure database name, username and password.

Begin with the Duplicator for the Migration process

Now it seems that you are ready to run the installer by navigating to the following address in your window browser by replacing it with your domain name. This will let the installer run a few tests and show you an option to pass next to archive for validation tests. It is required to check the terms and conditions checkbox by continuing to click on the Next button.

You will be further asked to enter your MySQL host, username, database name, and passcode. Your host can likely be localhost after entering the details of the database you have created above.

Select on a test database to ensure you have entered the correct information. If your duplicator is able to connect then you will notice a string starting with Pass. If not, then you can see the database connection error details. The duplicator will import your WordPress database from the archive zip into your new database.

Further, it will ask you to update your site URL or path as you’re not changing the domain names you don’t really need to change anything else. After this, you can check by logging in your WordPress site on the new host to make sure everything is running well.

Updating your DNS (Domain Name Servers)

It is the point where you have almost created a complete copy of your WordPress database and files from the old server to the new hosting server. To update your domain, you need to switch your DNS nameservers to ensure that the users are taken to the new location of your website when they type the domain into their browsers.

If you are going for Domain.com or GoDaddy then you need to update your nameservers. You will also need the DNS nameserver information from your new web host. This will get you successfully change the nameservers on your domain as DNS changes might take long hours to propagate for all the users.

As you hold the same content on your old host and the new host, in general, your users cannot see any major difference. Furthermore, your WordPress migration will be seamless with no downtime absolutely. Still, to be on a safer side, it is always a better option to cancel your old hosting account after a week to check if it’s running properly on new ones.

Keep on Learning!

About the author: Olivia Diaz is working in WordPress development company eTatvaSoft.com. She is passionate about tech news and loves to share her ideas on different development topics such as Magento, Angular and many more.

Security, Tips & Tutorials

8 simple WordPress tips that will make you a WordPress Pro

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Since 27 % of the Internet is powered by WordPress, being skillful at it has become a must. Even people who didn’t type a single line of code in their life can find plenty of available pieces of advice online, which can be used to improve one’s website without a developer’s help. Here are our 8 simple yet highly useful tips and tricks that will bring you closer to becoming a true WordPress Pro.

1. Delete unfiltered spam comments efficiently

If comments pass through spam filters they will end up in your “awaiting moderation” list. Reviewing and deleting them manually can take ages. To delete them much faster and to save tons of time, go to phpMyAdmin, then website’s database and finally to SQL, where you can paste this code into SQL command window:

DELETE from wp_comments WHERE comment_approved = '0';

The result of this should be a spam-free website!

2. Use SSL mode for a secure log in

Every serious website should have SSL certificate for multiple reasons, security being obviously the main one, but here is another one connected with WordPress you might have not known. If SSL certificate is installed on your server, by entering a simple code you can use SSL mode for secure user log-in. To do that, enter this code to wp-config.php file.

define('FORCE_SSL_LOGIN', true);

3. Create “send to Twitter” button

We are all very aware of the fact that there is no website visibility without social media being somehow involved, which is why this next tip can come especially in handy. By installing “Send to Twitter” button, the readers of your post can, by just one click, share your post on Twitter. This line of code should be added anywhere on the post, wherever you choose to put it:

<a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Currently reading <?php the_permalink(); ?>" title="Click to send this page to Twitter!" target="_blank">Share on Twitter</a>
4. Protect your site by limiting login attempts

Normally, users can make unlimited attempts to login at WordPress site, which has one major drawback: somebody other than yourself can guess your password until he or she gets it right. If you want to have greater control over this, you can limit the number of attempts when a user tries to login. By installing Login LockDown, a WordPress plugin, you will restrict the “unlimited attempts policy” and allow for greater security of your site. Here are more detailed instructions to follow if you want to apply the tip.

5. Add multiple authors for a WordPress post

WordPress automatically credits only one author per post. However, if you need to credit a couple of authors for a single post, there is an easy way to make that happen. You will need to install another plugin, Co-Authors Plus. After installing it, go to the specific post, more precisely to the post edit screen. Below the post editor, you will find the new ‘Authors’ box, where you can type the names of all the authors who participated in creating a piece of content.

6. Display random posts in WordPress sidebar

By displaying randomly chosen posts in the WP sidebar, visibility of your posts can be considerably enhanced. You will need Advanced Random Posts Widget plugin. When you activate it, go to Appearance then Widgets page where you can add Random Posts widget to your sidebar.

 7. Install SEO Plugin

This free plugin is useful on many levels. It optimizes your keywords, keeps track of your content, checks if it is outdated and how readable it is. Furthermore, it offers a comprehensible overview of your SEO score, analyzing all posts and pages of a website. This tip is recommended by many marketing experts who work with SEO and WordPress.

8. Allow your readers to subscribe to specific category on your website

Finally, if your site contains many categories and diverse content, your audience would probably like to subscribe only to some content on your website, instead of to all of it.

Web Hosting

How to choose the right hosting for Ruby on Rails App?

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Mobile phones and other portable devices have almost antiquated the desktop. More than ever, the number of mobile users has grown exponentially and people are now spending long hours on their mobile phone. As such, providing an engaging yet seamless experience on mobile devices is extremely important if a business is to retain its competitive advantage. If you are looking to build a hosted app Ruby on Rails (RoR) development company can easily help you.

One of the technologies that have been at the forefront of this increasing demand for intuitive apps and websites is Ruby on Rails, all thanks to its productive and fun nature to work with.  However, after building an app, you need to figure out how to deploy it. And that’s where the dilemma of choosing between a plethora of hosting services for your app comes in.

Without clarity of the ruby on rails app hosting service to use, your app deployment will be convoluted, meaning the end result will most likely reflect this as well.

What is Ruby on Rails?

Commonly referred to as RoR, Ruby on Rails leverages on the clarity and adaptability of object-oriented Ruby programming language, a framework designed to allow programmers to rapidly build and deploy hosted applications.

A hosted app is a software as a service solution which allows users to operate a software application from the cloud on a recurring basis. They are hosted and powered remotely via cloud infrastructure although they can be accessed anywhere through the Internet.

They also function as locally installed software but they can be easily and regularly updated.

Factors to Consider when Choosing RoR App Hosting?

When small businesses are starting up, they attempt to come up with groundbreaking solutions to attract customers. This means using different types of tech stack to suit their makes app requirements.

Therefore, there isn’t a clear cut criterion when choosing a ruby on rails hosting service. However, there are some few common denominators to consider.

Here are some of those factors:

Supports the Latest Framework Versions

When shopping for hosting services, ensure that the provider offers a product that is compatible with the latest framework versions. Additionally, understanding the app’s bandwidth requirements ensures that you settle for a product that gives you optimal performance at an affordable cost.

Easy-to-use Control Panel

Another essential requirement you should consider when looking for hosting services is a functional and user-friendly control panel. Whether it’s Plesk, cPanel or any other control panel, it should be easy to navigate. Otherwise, you could be spending countless hours figuring things out on your own or contacting the support team to help you out.

Scalable Environment

Starting small may mean settling for an equally minimalist hosting provider. However, as the business grows, you will need to upgrade your cloud storage needs. To ensure you’re settling for the right plan, always establish the additional storage capacity the service provider offers and the additional costs if any.

Data Security

Given the growing cases of data theft and security breaches, data security should be a top priority. The minimal requirements you should settle for should include 128-bit data encryption, a backup system, and a disaster recovery system.

Now you know the core requirements to consider when picking the best Ruby on Rails hosting services, what are the types?

Types of Ruby on Rails Hostings

There are many types of Ruby on Rails Hosting services. However, not all of them are built equal. Some are free while others are paid versions. However, the main downside of free Ruby on Rails hosting is that you may have to sacrifice on functionality.

Below, we are going to focus on the 3 major types:

Ruby on Rails Shared Hosting

Basically, shared hosting means that different entities get to share the same server although the operation of one entity doesn’t affect the operation of the other. Although less costly, it isn’t particularly the mode of choice for many companies because of the limitations in CPU and RAM allocation. And when you are working with Rails, this may prove a problem as the framework demands for sufficient server memory resources if the app is to perform optimally.

With that said, shared hosting can work for startups operating on a tight budget but looking to scale up as the business grows. Godaddy Ruby on Rails hosting is among the renowned shared hosting platforms although you will need to install additional dependency gems for it to run a rails app.

VPS Ruby on Rails Hosting

Virtual Private Server hosting is a match made in heaven when it comes to Rails applications. For starters, it comes with RAM memory of between 1 and 2 GB which is sufficient enough for any Ruby on Rails apps that require minimal processing requirements and moderate traffic. Moreover, this type of hosting doesn’t require a steep budget to acquire and operate thanks to the SSD drives on the virtual server.

The only downside of VPS hosting is the fact that you have to do some legwork in terms of setting it up, security, and maintenance of the app. This may prove a pain in the butt especially if you have zero experience on how to handle any of this.

PaaS Ruby on Rails Hosting

Metaphorically speaking, PaaS aka cloud hosting is like the new kid on the block. It is probably one of the most scalable hosting methods currently available as it allows you to grow and expand it concurrently. As a result, you get to pay according to the size and progress of your app.

Even better, it allows your development team to test and mimic different environments and gives them room for continuous integration and delivery. As a small startup, this may seem like a big of a bite, but despite the simplicity of your deployment solution. However, placing your bet on a platform that has well maintained and secure servers is a good idea.

With that said, despite the convenience that comes with PaaS Hosting, you may have to shoulder additional costs such as managing the VPS server. All in all, this is an inconsequential trade-off.

The Take Home

As you can see, choosing a hosting service for your app is extremely important. This is because it has the potential to make affect the development, deployment, and success of your app. However, with this guide, you shouldn’t have a problem in choosing the right one.  The key lies in being iconoclastic in trying to determine the app’s demand and only then will you have the best match.

Web Hosting

Web hosting vs Website builder – Which one should you use?

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The journey towards your first website can be a daunting one. There are many things you need to consider – and yes, to match against your existing skill set. There may also be lots of terms and requirements which you may not be familiar with.

One question which I come across frequently is the choice between standard web hosting and a website builder. To answer this, we need to look at what exactly they are and their function in the website development ecosystem.

Once again: What is Web Hosting?

Websites are made up of multiple files and in some cases involve the use of a database. For example, a static site may only be made up of files, but a WordPress site would need a database as well to function properly.

All these files and databases need to be placed somewhere – and that is on the servers that web hosts provide. Just as you keep files on your own PC, your website files need to be on servers accessible via the internet to allow visitors to get to.

The primary role of the web host is to:

  1. Allow you to use space on their servers to store your web pages and databases, and
  2. Give you access to the right infrastructure to serve those files to your visitors.

Anything else is dependant on which web hosting provider you sign up with.

There are key advantages of signing up with a dedicated web host and that is the wide variety of plans you can choose from. You can opt for very basic, low-bandwidth plans up to powerful dedicated servers.

What is a Website Builder?

To have a website for your visitors to use, you need to create it first. Websites are simply a collection of files containing lines of code that tie together various things like text, images and the like. It can be as simple as just one line of text to as complex as a video streaming site.

In early days, the only option to build a website was to code everything yourself, line by line. This required knowledge of specific scripts for you to do. Things nowadays are much easier, and you can use visual interfaces to build websites with little or no coding knowledge.

A website builder is a specific application that allows you to build websites quickly and easily. To run the website you build, you will still require web hosting. For this reason, website builders also include web hosting in their plans.

Most hosting offered by website builders is very basic and their strength lies in the website building tool itself.

What’s the Difference?

Every website on the internet needs web hosting, but not every site is built using a website builder. Take for example the case of Altushost versus Wix. Altushost is a good example of a company that focuses on offering web hosting plans. Wix, one of the popular website builders, on the other hand, is built primarily around the premise of being a website builder – and offers hosting to support sites build using their platform.

The distinction is small but significant at the same time. Because Wix is focused on the website builder aspect of the business, they have fewer plans for you to choose from. There are also limits to what you can use to build your website since they only allow you to use their own website builder.

With a web host, you are free to build a website with any tools at your disposal, from coding it yourself to using a Content Management System (CMS) such as WordPress.

1. Hosting Plans

Web hosting service providers often have a wide range of plans to choose from. Static or low visitor volume sites can be extremely cheap to host, and plans can start from as little as a dollar or so per month. On the other hand of that scale, large corporate sites or those which handle large volumes of visitors can opt for dedicated servers.

With website builders, your options are more limited. Although some will be able to offer enterprise-scale plans, those are not for general sale and you will need to contact them to discuss specific needs and prices.

2. Technical Aspects

Web hosting service providers focus on offering space and optimizing their servers so that your site can run smoothly. The development of your site is left entirely up to you. This gives you extreme flexibility in your choice of web development, but also require you to know what you are doing. Some may offer automated application installers, but development-wise, it’s all on you.

Website builders require almost zero technical skills and work with extremely visual elements. Building a site can be as easy as choosing a template and then dropping in elements or modifying them where necessary.

3. Site Customization

Because web hosting is basically only space and bandwidth, what functions you want your site to have is up to you – if you are able to build those functions yourself. You can build anything from a small static site to one as complex as a corporate site which includes a forum, blog and whatever else you can think of.

For website builders, your limitations depend on which website builder you opt for. The functions that are offered by your platform are your limit and if you need anything that they do not have, well, you’re out of luck.

Which is Right for You?

Website builders are extremely easy to use and can help you build a site very quickly. Because of the many advanced website builders available in the market today, there is very little in terms of functionality that they cannot really handle.

However, because of the limits to their hosting capabilities, there may be issues with sites that are planning to ‘go big’ after a while. Take for example Wix, which is one of the top site builders around. If you sign up with Wix and plan to scale up your plan as you grow, be cautious. Wix doesn’t allow you to export your website and move it to another platform. Once you hit their web hosting limitations, you’ll be out of luck.

I would say that website builders are ideal for beginners and small businesses that require no more than the token digital presence.

Web hosting, on the other hand, would be good for sites that intend to grow. They are also good for developers or those who need a sandbox experience in order to test out various tools and applications.

Naturally, this serves only as a guideline and which you opt for will depend on your specific needs.

About the author: Jason is a technology enthusiast, marketer, and a full-time dad. He loves exploring new opportunities online. He’s currently associated with BuildThis.io as the site manager.

Tips & Tutorials, Web Hosting

5 Mistakes You Can Make When Switching To A New Web Hosting Service

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Let’s admit it — Moving to a new website hosting service makes moving houses a lot easier, which is the reason why most site owners choose to live with the deteriorating quality of services being provided by their current web host. Right?

Many times, it’s almost until they can no longer put up that they finally decide to invest their time and energy into switching to a new service provider.

Or some of these things start pilling up:

Suffering from constant downtime? Is your site speed negatively impacting your SEO metrics? Paying too much for a service that fails to deliver? Now might be the right time for you to start learning about the process and challenges associated with switching to a new web hosting service.

Switching to A New Web Hosting Service: Understanding The Process

Are you ready to make the move? It is likely that you will choose one of two routes: A web hosting provider with free migration services; or manual transfer of your database, files, and email accounts.

  • The Easy Method

Perhaps the most preferred method for beginners and business owners looking for a faster switch is choosing a web hosting provider that offers free migration service. Many companies only require you to sign up for their services and simply add the request for migration. It is typically from there that their support team jumps in and handles the rest of the process in getting you set up.

  • Putting In The Manual Labor

For those willing to initiate and undertake a host migration on their own, you can compare and evaluate all kinds of web hosting service providers without restricting yourself only to those who offer free migration services.

While choosing the most effective method of migration can contribute towards a smooth switch to your new web host, there are several issues that need to be addressed before you begin.

It is only in an ideal world that we would get to experience a stress-free switch from our current, rather crumbling web host. Being able to experience an affordable rate, no downtime, and superb load times almost seems like imagining the perfect scenario.

Unfortunately, plenty of businesses often experience a hard time when looking for the right web hosting service or moving their site to its new house.

Here are five mistakes you should avoid making when switching to a new web hosting service and a detailed look at how they can affect your business operations.

Mistake #1: Allowing The Price Tag To Cloud Your Judgment

When changing web hosts, businesses are susceptible to losing visitors. However, your business is more likely to experience lower site traffic due to poor performance if you don’t carefully evaluate your choices.

While the adage, ‘the more expensive the better’ is true for conscious consumption, things are not that simple when it comes to web hosting services – unfortunately. When choosing a potential web host, don’t let pricing become the top-most influencing factor. Expensive plans are often made attractive by a bundle of features, but the extra cost is yet to be justified.

Similarly, cheap plans are easier on the pocket, but let’s be honest, with a negligible price tag on a web hosting service, you’re probably getting peanuts instead of quality service. Assuming that a hosting company sells both free and paid services, should businesses opt for the free plan with terrible customer support and no assurance whatsoever of a stable service and guaranteed uptime?

Businesses that settle for a free or cheap hosting plan in efforts to save cash often sacrifice a lot more in profits when compared to those that carefully evaluate their hosting options.

Mistake #2: Clicking “I Agree” Without Reading The Terms

Chances are, if you don’t read the terms and conditions of the host you’re signing up with, your business will land in some sort of trouble sooner or later. Chance for trouble multiplies with free hosts since they try to limit your resource usage through their terms.

It is also important to understand that most hosting services are backed by strict consumer policies. While some might follow a regressive way of charging the customers, others rely on a proportional or even progressive approach. Each hosting service provider has its own policies on data security and assurances against security breaches.

With a whopping 30,000 web sites getting hacked each day, and 86-percent of all websites experiencing at least one serious security occurrence — there are plenty of reasons for you to know exactly how your hosting service plans on minimizing risks and handling security-related matters.

Furthermore, the terms also include details on the host’s refund policy. Having a clear understanding of your potential host’s refund policy is crucial; given that some offer a full refund if you decide to end the contract for any given reason.

Mistake #3: Slower Hosting With Slower Page Load Speed

If your site takes longer than 3 seconds to load, you’ve already lost two out of five users. With speed being a major factor of productivity, the responsiveness of your hosted site can translate to big business. Research shows that improving loading times from 8 to 2-seconds boosts the conversion rate by 74-percent. At a macro level, slow websites cost the US economy alone, over $500 million every year; with just a single second delay decreasing conversion rates by almost 7%.

As per the facts, your web hosting package can make a huge impact on the page load speed of your website. A hosting service that fails to allocate dedicated resources may entail the sharing of your site’s resource by more than one site, resulting in deteriorating load speed. As a critical SEO performance metric, this can result in a massive loss of potential customers for businesses.

Mistake #4: Adding On Domains & Risking Privacy

It is not unusual for hosting providers to offer their customers the flexibility of adding more than one domain under a single account. With a feature known as “add-on domains” in the cPanel, customers get access to a user-friendly control panel; allowing them to create and host several different domains under one account.

On one hand, this makes it easier for customers to manage and monitor a number of sites without having to pay hefty sums for separate accounts. However, this can create an insecure environment as multiple users gain access to all sites controlled by an account.

Mistake #5: Changing Locations & Affecting SEO

Wondering if changing your website host can affect SEO? As much as you wish it didn’t, the answer is kinda Yes. The whereabouts of your website host play a significant role in quite a few ways; one of which is the management of your website’s positioning on SERPs.

Back in the day, Google relied on Top Level Domain (TLD) to prioritize websites. However, recent changes to Google’s algorithm have shifted the search engine’s focus towards the IP addresses of sites to determine their location and relevance when a search is initiated.

To help you understand this better, it is important to note that any search made in a certain country will give priority to sites located in that specific country. Taking this into consideration, businesses located in, say the United States switching to a cheaper web host with its servers located in China are most likely to experience a negative impact on their search engine rankings in their home country.

The beauty of the Internet comes not only in the macro form of heightened connectivity, but also in THE micro sum of its parts; namely greater exposure, infinite opportunities, and accessible facilitation. By hiring and outsourcing to those passionate and experienced enough in areas where managements lack, businesses can focus on safely leading potential customers through their sales funnel instead of losing them trying their hand at technology.

To make mistakes is human, especially when undertaking tasks that are not in your specific domain. Time and again research have shown the risks businesses pose to themselves with difficult to maneuver, lagging websites. Negative effects to your SEO ranking, increased downtime due to DNS’s lack of propagation, corruption of database, and even missing website pages and add-ons may be experienced if the redirecting of the web hosting is undertaken by someone less than proficient.

Why are these issues so serious? To sum it up, research by Skilled shows that 79% of customers refuse to go back to a website that underperforms while 47% expect a page to load in less than two seconds.

The maxim ‘time is money’ is really put into context when put into the context of website responsiveness. In terms of SEO, a one-second delay in a website’s loading can entail an 11% loss of page views. The same delay can also decrease conversions by 7%, and an increase by the same amount can lead to an increase of $7000 daily.

As the discourse of business and marketing evolves with the assimilation of technology, the digital market seems to be experiencing Adam Smith’s invisible hand of equilibrium. Those that have not been able to catch on with the methods of today have been removed, while those in the race should employ those privies at all times with the changing trends in technology and the impact they can have on your hard-maintained bottom-line.

About the author: Nikola Banicek is an internet marketing specialist at Point Visible, a marketing agency providing custom outreach and link building service. He’s a laid-back guy with experience in PPC, copywriting, and project planning. When he’s not working, he’s either gaming, watching football or anime.