Backing up your server may be the single most important thing you ever do. It could save your websites, your clients, and your business. We have covered quite a few backup issues on this blog. Here is a summary of some important points.

1. Always use a remote backup server. Although there are some benefits to local backup, it will be useless when the entire server crashes.

2. If possible, avoid using your home computer as your backup server. Use a dedicated backup server or lease backup space from a web host.

3. Use rsync or similar program to perform remote incremental backups.

4. Automate the backup process with a cron job.

5. Backup all website files and databases.

6. Periodically test your backups to make sure the process completed correctly.

7. Make sure users or clients also perform their own individual backups for added protection.

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons

Continue reading: Server Backup Tips

Nothing is worse for an Internet user than to get to a website and have to wait a long for it to load, especially if that long load time is the result of one seemingly tiny image at the bottom of the page. Here are a few tips you can follow to make sure your website images are actually ready for the web:

1. Use compression, either of the JPEG or PNG variety. PNGs will need to be crushed in order to not be huge file sizes. Your front page should not be filled with images over 10kb (aside from maybe the banner). If you have a blog, try to keep images under 50kb. You can have users click on thumbnails to see larger versions.

2. Use appropriate sizes. If your HTML declares an image to be 250×150, the image should actually be that size. If you resize a larger image, the visitor’s browser will still have to load the full sized image, which takes longer to load.

3. Use the appropriate alt tags. In order to be standards-compliant, all images on any page should be properly described in alt tags so that visually impaired visitors will know what they are.

4. For large packs of images, use a gallery. If you are going to be displaying images in bunches, use some type of gallery or light box (modal windows). People who see the initial page will still get fast load times, and if they want to see the images up close, they can choose to wait longer.

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons

Continue reading: Preparing Images for the Web

Changing your web host is probably not something you do for fun, but if you are unhappy with your current host or have found a better one, there is no reason for you to suffer, when there is something better out there. If you have a Wordpress blog, you will need to move it and most likely want keep all of the posts. Follow these simple steps.

1. Login to Wordpress
2. In the left column, expand the “Tools” section
3. Click “Export”
4. Click the “Download Export File” button and save the xml file to your computer.
5. Install Wordpress on your new hosting account.
6. Login and Click “Tools”
7. Click “Import”
8. From the list, choose the last option: Wordpress.
9. Click “Choose file” to select the import file, and find it on your computer.
10. Finally, click “Upload file and import”.

With that you will have successfully moved your Wordpress blog. If you had a custom theme, you will also need to copy that separately. Otherwise, you are all finished.

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons

Continue reading: How to Export and Import a Wordpress Blog

Run a hosting site long enough and you are bound to encounter customers who want blogs. Even if you are a customer yourself, there is a good chance you will want a blog. You could get a free one from Wordpress or Blogger, but having your own domain for it just makes sense if you want something professional looking.

Wordpress - The company that offers free service also offers their blogging software as free and open source PHP code. It is easy to install and maintain.

Livejournal - The old kid on the block, Livejournal was a perl-based blogging software with a big following.

Moveable Type - Another perl-based blogging app that is very popular.

Drupal - This blogging software/CMS is uniquely known for its easy scalability. Create a blog for one or hundreds.

Serendipity - I have personally never used this one and know little about it, but it seems to offer a good host of features.

There are many others and no shortage of free and paid hosted solutions. In a future post, we will compare some of their features.

Photo Source: Flickr

Continue reading: Blogging software roundup

Hosting a blog is a great way to organise thoughts and ideas on any topic. In fact, they are one of the most popular websites these days. Whereas in the past webmasters turned to static HTML websites, many now find they can get better functionality from a blog.

If you’re looking to create your own blog on a web host, first you need to pick a platform. The most popular by far is Wordpress. It is easy-to-use and can be customised with thousands of plug-ins and themes.

You will also need a domain. For a new webmaster, blogging platforms can be hard to set up. Thankfully, many hosts these days offer automated installation of Wordpress and other popular content management systems (CMS’s).

Free blog hosting options are available, but not recommended. Paid domain hosting is needed to look professional.

Continue reading: Create your own blog

Blogs are all the rage these days. It seems like everyone and their dog has one. Not able to justify the expense of web hosting, many new bloggers have turned to free hosts specially designed for blogs only. While it’s a good way for some to save money, there are a number of reasons why a serious blogger should never host on a free service.

1. No domains allowed
No matter how well-read your site is, you will always be stuck on a subdomain. Most free blog hosts do not allow domain names. This is not only an inconvenience, but means all backlinks will point to the subdomain given to you by your provider. For instance, if Nancy wanted to move to a paid host and register nancysblog.com, she would find that she lost all the links and visitors to her freely hosted site, nancytoday.freebloghost.com.

2. No ads allowed
Check the requirements of your free provider. Some large notable hosts do allow users to display their own advertisements, but many place restrictions on the type of ads and how many you can place on your blog.

Continue reading: The caveats of free blog hosting

Wordpress is best known as the world’s most popular blogging platform. Now it’s the owner WP.me, the only two-letter .me domain in the world.

The name will be used for a free URL redirection service for bloggers hosting on the Wordpress site, similar to Bit.ly on Twitter. Wordpress not only makes a great CMS, but also provides free subdomain hosting for blogs.

Wordpress was able to obtain the name through a special agreement with the .ME registry. Most domain operators do not allow the sale of names under three letters.

WP.me seems to have been given as a gift, which was probably a good PR move for .ME. Wordpress’s use of the domain will likely give the extension some much-needed attention.

Source | The Domains

Continue reading: Wordpress acquires world's only two-letter .me

Last April, blogger Mike Morgan got a cease and desist letter from financial firm Goldman Sachs. The letter demanded that he take down his website, GoldmanSachs666.com, a blog critical of the company. Goldman claims it violated its intellectual property rights. An attorney himself, Morgan fought back, and won.

Though “Goldman Sachs” is a trademarked term, the site falls under fair use guidelines and does not violate American trademark law. Rather than go to court on Goldman’s terms, Morgan filed a preemptive lawsuit in his local district court, asking it to verify the lawfulness of his site. Yesterday, Goldman Sachs backed down, agreeing not to interfere with the blog so long as it is not used for commercial purposes and a disclaimer is displayed on every page.

On his site, Morgan declared:

True knuckheads that think they can bully anyone. Well . . . they bullied Bush, and they’re bullying Obama and his Gang of Goofballs, but I hate the bad guys . . . and Mike Morgan never backs down

The site owner was lucky in this case because, as an attorney, his legal costs were drastically reduced. Everyone can and should challenge abusive legal claims like the one from Goldman Sachs, however. The investment giant knew it had no legal basis to take the site down, but thought it could do so by threatening Morgan with costly legal proceedings. Most of the time, this tactic works, but if you hold your ground, you’d be surprised how much power you can hold against big business.

Source | The Domains
Photo | Flickr

Continue reading: Goldman Sachs gives up domain claim

One feature some consumers forget to look over before signing up for a hosting package is the number of MySQL databases offered. The most common type of database, MySQL is required to use any of the most popular blogging or CMS platforms.

One clever trick hosts use to keep usage down is limit the number of MySQL databases a customer can use. It’s not uncommon for entry-level hosting plans to have only one or possibly no databases. Because each CMS or blog installation requires a separate database, a limit on MySQL limits the number of sites you can run. Hosts may also achieve the same effect by restricting the number of domain names that can be added to an account.

Before signing up for a hosting package, make sure you have enough databases. Higher-end plans will give you at least 10. Of course, you can always use static HTML instead to get around a MySQL limit, but most hosters these days prefer the ease of use offered by a CMS.

Continue reading: The Database Dilemma